The Templar Girl
by Comfortably Grey
Summary: When two new students arrive at Hogwarts in the Marauders' 5th year everyone wants to know more about them. There's more to the Templar twins than meets the eye, that much is obvious especially with the mystery and power that surrounds them. SB/OC JP/LE
1. A Not so Normal First Day

**Chapter 1: A not so normal first day **

Four 15 year old boys sat in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express about to embark on their 5th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. These, however, were not ordinary boys, at least not in the eyes of Hogwarts' society. These were the Marauders.

From first year these boys had been a tight knit group, no one else joined and none of them left. They acted, in the eyes of some, like a secret society, and in more than one way they were. Each member had a sort of codename, a name that only Marauders called them by. They had skyrocketed to popularity with their pranks. Usually targeted on Slytherins, the Marauders pranks were infamous; they carved a name for the boys' audacity and rebellion. The Marauders included:

**James Potter aka Prongs**: Pureblood wizard whose family widely accepts people of all heritages (Muggle, half and pure) and are strongly opposed to the new Pureblood movement and Voldemort. Agrees whole heartedly with family beliefs. Considered to be a family of 'blood traitors' by other pureblood families. Comes from a long line of Gryffindors. Confident and arrogant in himself and his own beliefs, he is often described as the unofficial leader of the Marauders. In love with Lily Evans who hates him (or so she says).

**Sirius Black aka Padfoot**: Pureblood wizard whose family only accepts purebloods and despises mudbloods (Muggle borns) and are only slightly more tolerant of half bloods. Almost all Black's are sorted into Slytherin (including Sirius' brother; excepting Sirius and a cousin Andromeda, a Ravenclaw) they despise Gryffindors. Sirius, however, is considered a 'blood traitor', the black sheep, and hates all things that the Black family stands for. Accepting of Muggle borns, half bloods and selected purebloods, hates Slytherins and Voldemort. First Black to be sorted into Gryffindor. Proud Gryffindor and also described as arrogant at times, he has an aristocratic air about him and is best not to be crossed. Considered a 'chauvinistic prat' by Lily Evans and friends, though he couldn't care less as every other girl in the school is in love with him.

**Remus Lupin aka Moony: **Werewolf, half blood whose family has been struggling with his diagnoses of Lycanthropy though they are fairly accepting of him. Keeps his condition secret, though teachers and fellow Marauders are aware and accepting, blames monthly disappearances on his 'ill' mother and Marauders explain his scratched appearance when he returns to be due to his 'furry little problem' and lead people to believe he has a poorly behaved rabbit. Disagrees openly with Voldemort's attempted reform along with all Marauders. Sorted into Gryffindor to his delight, proving that not all werewolves are evil. Quieter and more studious than the others, he is voted 'most tolerable' by Lily Evans and friends, and is often considered a friend to them.

**Peter Pettigrew aka Wormtail: **Half blood whose family neither opposes nor supports Voldemort, not much is known on their position regarding the war. Peter, like all Marauders, disagrees with the pureblood only mentality. Though his bravery and courage is sometimes uncertain, was sorted into Gryffindor. Sheepish and overall mousy, Peter's membership in the group is often questioned by outsiders. Considered 'creepy' by Lily Evans and friends, and most girls avoid him (especially being left alone with him).

By regular standards the boys should not have been friends. The group was so mismatched in history it was a wonder that any of them got along. That was the beauty of it all, the group appeared incredibly diverse, and in some ways it was, but really they shared values, and their different attitudes and talents complemented each other nicely.

So the Marauders became Hogwarts' elite, royalty. The girls loved them, the boys envied them. Life was good. They sat in their regular compartment talking about pranks and the upcoming year, snacking on chocolate frogs and every flavour beans.

"Do you reckon they got Miller to teach Defence again?" Sirius Black asked his friends as they sat in their usual compartment on the Hogwarts Express. They were going into their fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and pretty much every year there was a new Defence against the Dark Arts professor.

"Probably, we'll have to give him a welcoming prank." James Potter, leader of the infamous prank group The Marauders, answered his best mate.

"I suppose there's no point in arguing with you lot about pranking professors is there?" Remus Lupin, often voted the sanest of the four Marauders, asked.

"Moony, don't go all prefect on us. You've only had that badge a couple weeks and already we're losing you to the light side." Sirius said melodramatically as Remus rolled his eyes.

Just then the door to the compartment slid open and a girl with fiery red hair stood in the door.

"Hello my Lily-flower, have you come to accept my many invitations for a date?" James asked semi-hopefully. Lily Evans glared at the boy with messy black hair that had addressed her.

"Get over yourself, Potter." She said spitefully before turning with a smile to the boy with sandy brown hair. "Remus, I heard you were made prefect, congratulations. Are you ready for the meeting?"

"Yes I am Lily, see you lot later." He said standing and putting his book away. He walked out of the compartment with Lily much James' dislike and Sirius' amusement.

When they got to the school, Remus and Lily were still doing their prefect duties so the other Marauders climbed into one of the carriages waiting to take them up to the Castle. The first years followed the Prefects' directions and Hagrid's booming voice down to the lake where they would take the traditional journey by boat to the castle. Everything was going as it should be, as it had for the past four years.

Sitting at the long Gryffindor table, the four Marauders, now rejoined by Remus, sat with grumbling stomachs.

"I wish they would just skip the sorting so we could eat." Sirius grumbled.

"Just stop thinking about it, think about something else." Remus suggested.

"Like what? I'm so hungry." Sirius whined staring forlornly at the empty gold plate in front of him.

"Well I see Miller, got any ideas yet?" James said conveniently providing a distraction for Sirius.

"Nah, not yet, I reckon just showing up late for the first class will set him off." Sirius said shrugging but also looking at the teachers table that ran along the front of the Great Hall. "What d' you think, up for a detention tomorrow?"

Then the first years came in following McGonagall sheepishly. On their faces were looks of fear, uncertainness and awe at the Great Hall and the coming sorting. None of them really knew what exactly took place at the sorting; it was one of Hogwarts' best kept secret traditions.

At the very back of the group walked two people, a boy and a girl, but they weren't like the others. They were both at least a head taller than the little 11 year olds and they walked with a confidence that just couldn't be faked. Both had black hair, though the girl's was a deeper, raven black than the boy's. The girl's hair was pulled back with a headband made from strings of silver woven together loosely. The boy's was short with tapered wispy strands around the back and jagged layers on the top with his bangs pieced out onto the forehead. These two were definitely not first years; they looked more like 15 than 11, like they should be going into fifth with the Marauders. Both wore identical robes of plain black and their eyes flicked around the Hall once or twice not meeting anyone's gaze.

"Hey Prongs, those aren't first years are they?" Sirius asked using James' nickname.

"Definitely not, transfers probably." He said but his eyes remained on the two strangers trying to read them.

Something about them was different. They were shrouded by mystery and confidence. They had an air about them that told everyone around them they knew things, things that others didn't and they knew exactly why they were at Hogwarts…and it wasn't for magical education.

When the last of the actual first years were sorted Professor Dumbledore stood and the whole Great Hall fell silent, the two students still standing off to the side.

"Good Evening students and welcome to Hogwarts School. We have two new students that will be joining our fifth year classes, Brenna and Cyrus Templar." He gestured to the two students who gave a curt nod. "If you will Minerva." He said and before McGonagall could read out the names in the customary alphabetical fashion, the boy, Cyrus, stepped forward and sat on the stool.

Somewhat startled at the finality and authority in such a small gesture, McGonagall blinked at the boy a couple times before placing the Sorting Hat on his head. After a few moments of whispering among the students in the Hall the hat shouted its decision.

"SLYTHERIN"

The boy stood, removing the hat and looking at his twin sister giving her a small, accomplished smile and a nod which she returned.

_Great, more Slytherin pureblood fanatics. _Sirius thought sarcastically.

After Cyrus had joined the clapping Slytherin table, Brenna stepped forward and put on the hat.

_You aren't going to fight me too are you? I swear putting your twin in that house was a mistake, he doesn't belong there, oh, but he was adamant, it had to be Slytherin. But you won't be Slytherin. No, I haven't seen this much bravery and power for centuries. You are strong, stronger than most know, maybe even stronger than you know yourself. It had better be _GRYFFINDOR_" _The hat shouted as the girl, with a small smile on her face stood and removed the hat.

With a last look at her brother, she walked to the clapping Gryffindors. She didn't look sad or disappointed that she wasn't with her brother or in Slytherin as you would expect from the look on her brother's face when he was sorted there. She too looked pleased and successful, as though she had done exactly what she was supposed to do.

Brenna walked down the isle between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables looking for a place to sit, she still seemed confident and it was more like she was looking for somewhere she would like to sit, a way to get to know people. Where she sat would likely determine her friends for the next few days at least, they would show her around and introduce her to Hogwarts life. She was actually walking toward the Marauders, and Sirius at least would offer her a seat (lets just say she was pretty), when she stopped a few people away.

"You can sit with us if you'd like." Lily Evans offered with a smile. Looking at the people sitting with the friendly girl, Brenna noticed that they were all smiling encouragingly.

"Thanks" Brenna said with a relieved smile, glad that someone had offered her a seat. She wouldn't have hesitated too much to ask to sit with people but it was nice to know that she didn't have to.

"I'm Lily Evans by the way, and this is Alice Prewitt and Marlene McKinnon." She said gesturing to the two girls sitting with her, the first with short chocolate brown hair and the other with medium length blond hair.

"I'm Brenna Templar, but I guess you just heard that."

Just then, Dumbledore clapped his hands and the feast appeared on the table in front of them. As they ate the three Gryffindor friends asked questions about Brenna's past and what life was like at Hogwarts. Just as dinner was ending and they were getting ready to go upstairs, Professor McGonagall walked up to them.

"Miss Templar might I have a word?" She asked.

"Of course Professor…I guess I'll see you in the Common Room." Brenna said standing and following Professor McGonagall out of the Hall and into her office.

"Miss Templar I would have liked to speak with your brother as well but since he is a Slytherin I think it best that I allow him time to bond with his fellows as his job is dangerous enough without my interference.

"You need to be aware that Professor Dumbledore has chosen to only make myself aware of you and your brother's advanced abilities, the other professors know only that you have transferred to Hogwarts for your fifth year and the years following should you choose. It is entirely up to you and Cyrus as far as how much of your abilities you show them.

"Should you get into any trouble, you will be reprimanded as any other student. You will also be expected to complete all assignments and attend all your classes. Do you have any questions, Brenna?"

"Just one Professor, Dumbledore said that we would still be able to train regularly, where and when would we be able to do that?" Brenna asked curiously. With a little chuckle and a small smile McGonagall answered her only question.

"I was told you take your regimen very seriously. Professor Dumbledore has arranged for a room where you can train, it will be password protected; unfortunately it is not ready yet. Professor Dumbledore said he would like to be the one to show you both the room himself since you are here as a favour to him."

"Thank you Professor."

"Thank you, Brenna and your brother as well. Please keep us informed." Understanding that it was time for Brenna to go back to her dormitory, she stood from her chair.

"We will Professor. And for the record, we are here because we can help, not as a favour." She said sincerely looking McGonagall straight in the eye, earning a smile from McGonagall.

"Goodnight Brenna."

"Goodnight Professor." She said as she walked out of the office.


	2. Crime and Punishment

**Chapter 2: Crime and Punishment**

The next morning at Breakfast Professor McGonagall handed out the timetables. Brenna had at least one new friend in every class except History of Magic.

"Don't worry about that one; the whole class is usually comatose within 2 minutes." Alice told her laughingly earning a disapproving look from Lily.

"Well we all have double Defence this morning, a nice change from double Potions." Marlene said a dislike for Potions clear in her voice.

Just then there was a loud bang that echoed off the walls of the Great Hall. Instinctively, Brenna's hand flew to her wand and her head snapped in the direction of the bang. Fighting the urge to run to the site of the chaos, Brenna searched the clearing smoke for Cyrus, hoping that he was alright, because if he wasn't…

Finally she found Cyrus' eyes in the confusion, though it was only his eyes that were recognisable. All the Slytherins had been transfigured into strange creatures, some that were entirely fictional. The majority of the Great Hall burst into laughter and applause as the Professors hurried over to the Slytherin Table. It was only then that Brenna noticed three boys smirking proudly, two of them taking bows, and a fourth standing with them, though he did not have the confident appearance the rest possessed.

"What just happened?" Brenna asked turning back to her friends that were rolling their eyes.

"The Marauders annual beginning of term prank." Marlene said exasperatedly.

"Those four over there are the Marauders, or at least that's what they call themselves. They basically torment people for the fun of it, their usual targets are Slytherins." Lily continued.

"The one with the glasses and really messy hair is James Potter, completely obsessed with Lily and will never leave her alone.

"Then there's Remus Lupin, the tall one with light brown hair, he's the most tolerable, we actually quite like him as long as he's not with the others.

"And Peter Pettigrew is the short one that seems scared, honestly I don't know what he's doing hanging out with them I guess they felt bad for him or something, but he's a total creep.

"Finally, there's Sirius Black. He's completely gorgeous and he knows it. But then he's also an arrogant, chauvinistic, womanizing prat. He's dated over half the female population and has pretty much every girl swooning at the sight of him. It's quite pathetic, really. He's also got what we like to call a 'flavour of the week'. Basically whatever girl he feels like snogging. When he gets bored with them he just moves on." Alice said pointing out each individual member of the group.

"And there you have it, the Marauders. A new prank everyday, a new girl every week." Lily finished.

"Well I hope they know how to duel, my brother isn't one to just 'take' that kind of humiliation." Brenna said knowing her brother's pride and abilities; it just wasn't a good mix.

"The Slytherins always try to get them back but it doesn't work. The four of them are almost always together and they are pretty good at duels I guess. Plus the entire school loves them so attacking them ends bad, not that the Slytherins care, they just never win." Marlene said sighing.

"They don't know my brother." Brenna said shaking her head as she saw Cyrus, now back in human form, completely stone-faced.

When they got to the Defence classroom, Brenna was actually excited for the lesson, not that she would be learning anything new, but still, it would be interesting to see what was taught at Hogwarts.

Professor Miller, who had been the Defence against the Dark Arts professor for the past three years, was the youngest of all the professors at Hogwarts and as such he was often the students' favourite. Unfortunately, this meant that he was also one of the favourite staff targets for the Marauders, second only to Filch.

About fifteen minutes late, Sirius Black and James Potter walked into class receiving a death stare from their Professor.

"I will not tolerate your shenanigans this term. 20 points from Gryffindor and you two will wait after class for your punishment." The two boys muttered apologies but looked unconcerned with their loss of points and detention simply taking their seats at the back of the class with the other 'Marauders'.

For this lesson Professor Miller taught them the basic principles of duelling. Though many of the students had participated in duels with rivals at the school (completely ignoring school rules), they had never been taught _how _to duel, they didn't know the manoeuvres and the details of it, they didn't know the little things that would save their lives in a real duel with a dark wizard.

Both Brenna and Cyrus had this class as it included Gryffindors and Slytherins and though they already knew how to duel they listened attentively. The Professor wasn't bad, he knew what he was talking about, but Brenna and Cyrus had learnt differently and had fought differently than what he was teaching. Professor Miller walked them through the logistics of a duel, proper stance and distance from an opponent. The entire lesson was theory, but most of the class paid attention since Miller had promised that they would begin practicing on Thursday, their next class.

Brenna paid particularly close attention since she needed to know exactly how well to fight. She wouldn't let herself lose, but she couldn't win too easily without raising a few questions on her training.

"Class dismissed; Black, Potter my office." Miller said glaring at the two cocky Gryffindor boys who walked nonchalantly into the office as the rest of the class packed up their things.

:.:.:

James and Sirius walked into Miller's office, not caring that we would get a detention on the first day, the worst thing they got was usually just polishing the trophies or writing lines, plus it was good to know they can still get under their Professor's skin. Taking the seats in front of the desk, they waited for Miller.

"I was right, walk in late, and he's already snapped. How many detentions do you think we'll get?"

"Depends whether he's still mad about turning him pink last year. We might get two or three, he gave us like 20 last year for that." James said with a smile remembering our prank.

"True…what do you think, polishing trophies or helping professors?" Sirius asked idly as Miller walked into the room and took the seat behind his desk.

"Neither Mr Black" He said answering Sirius' question and earning quizzical looks from the two boys. "For your punishments you both will be tutoring other students." Sirius and James' faces went blank and a confused.

"Come again" Sirius said completely shocked.

"You, as in Sirius Black and James Potter, will be tutoring a couple students individually on your own time in the Library."

"You've got to be kidding me!" James said shaking his head disbelievingly.

"I'm not kidding you Mr Potter. You two have been disrespecting Professors and ignoring school rules for four years now and not received proper punishment. So you will be spending your afternoons and evenings when you do not have classes. I have spoken to some of the other Professors and they agree that this would be an adequate punishment for all of your offenses, so you can forget about filling your time with other detentions to get out this." Miller explained a confident half smile on his face. The two boys just stared at him in horror.

"But what about Quidditch!"

"You may work out a schedule with the students you will be tutoring, but Quidditch is not my priority here. You two will do this, at least 3 times a week, you will be on time and you will tutor the students properly. Their success is yours and their failure is yours. You will start tonight, be in the Library by 7 o'clock sharp. You both will have a different student to tutor and you will not be tutoring together, understood?" The two boys nodded but didn't say anything. "I'm sorry what was that?"

"Yes Professor." They muttered sullenly.

"Good, you may go." He said as the grumbling boys left the office.

"I can't believe he's making _you _tutor someone, that poor, poor student!" Remus said through his laughter when Sirius and James told him about their punishment at lunch.

"Shut up, Moony, this is bad enough as it is. Three times a week!" James grumbled causing Remus to cover up his laughter with a cough.

"What the hell are we even going to tutor these kids in? How old do you think they are? First years can't possibly need tutoring yet!" Sirius added as he shovelled food into his mouth. "I barely do my homework on time, how am I supposed to help someone else do theirs?"

"Padfoot I'm sure it won't be that bad, you don't know who you'll end up tutoring, it could potentially be a girl." Remus said trying to make his friend see the bright side of his situation.

"Very true Moony. Prongs, this might not be bad after all."


	3. Smitten

**Chapter 3: Smitten**

"Are you Brenna Templar?" A second year Gryffindor asked walking up to the girls as they ate in the Great Hall.

"Um, yeah"

"Professor Miller would like to see you in his office, and do you know where your brother is, I'm supposed to tell him too." The young girl glanced nervously at the Slytherin table.

"It's alright I'll go find him." Brenna said standing up and smiling at the relieved girl who walked off to sit with her friends.

"Brenna, I know your brother's a Slytherin, but they don't take kindly to Gryffindors, be careful." Alice said as Brenna nodded before walking over to the Slytherins.

She easily spotted her brother amongst the crowd, unfortunately he was doing his job well and that meant he was sitting with the Slytherins that were most likely Death Eaters or Death Eaters in-training. She recognised the boy that was talking mostly to her brother as a Malfoy, the blond hair and arrogant persona gave him away instantly. _Well, this should be fun. _

"What brings a lovely Gryffindor to the Slytherin table?" Malfoy drawled looking Brenna up and down perversely.

"Lucius this is my sister, Brenna. Brenna this is Lucius Malfoy." Brenna gave a curt nod wanting to get as far away from there as possible.

"Normally Gryffindors are not welcome here, but for you, we can make an exception. Have a seat" Malfoy offered gesturing to the seat next to him.

"Actually I've got to get going. Cyrus, Professor Miller would like to see us in his office." Nodding Cyrus stood from the table.

"See you around Brenna." Malfoy said as the Templar twins walked out of the Great Hal.

"Sorry about that Bren, Malfoy's a creep."

"Next time I'm being more Gryffindor and less accepting, I don't want him thinking of me as a friend or worse…" Brenna trailed off with a shudder as they got to the Defence Professor's office.

After knocking, Brenna opened the door and walked in.

"You wanted to see us, Professor?" Brenna asked as Cyrus stepped into the office behind her.

"Yes, please, come in, sit down." Miller said gesturing to the two seats in front of his desk. Cyrus shut the door behind them as Brenna took a seat. When Cyrus took the other seat, Miller continued.

"Now, since you both are new, I'm not sure how many spells and hexes you know that would be useful in a duel," _More than you could imagine _Brenna thought as she shared a look with Cyrus, "and we will be working on duelling this term, I have arranged for you to be tutored so you can catch up."

"That's really not necessary, Professor, I'm sure we'll be fine." Brenna tried to get out of being tutored.

"Nonsense, I insist, I would hate for you two to be behind the class because of a technicality. The tutors I have arranged are notorious troublemakers but have the highest marks in your year. I would like for you to tell me how your session goes since it is their punishment for some misdemeanours to bring you both up to speed.

"If you are both available you may begin your tutoring tonight. The two Gryffindors-"

"Did you say Gryffindors, Professor?" Cyrus asked playing the Slytherin role well.

"Yes I did Mr Templar, is that a problem?"

"No professor" Cyrus muttered.

"Good, as I was saying, the two Gryffindors will tutor you 3 times a week until you know all the spells and hexes needed for this course, I will leave it to you to work out times that will fit your schedules. Tonight you will meet at 7 in the library. Please let me know if there are any complications. Mr Templar, I feel obligated to tell you that these boys often prank Slytherins, though they hopefully will not tonight, I can not promise anything…Miss Templar your tutor will be Sirius Black and Mr Templar yours will be James Potter. Please let me know tomorrow how this goes."

"Of course Professor" Brenna said less than thrilled.

"You may go." He said dismissing them as they stood and left the office. After shutting the door behind them, Cyrus and Brenna groaned.

"I can't believe we have to get tutored!" Brenna said as they made their way back to the hall.

"At least you're a Gryffindor; I have to get tutored by Slytherin-hating Gryffindors!" Cyrus complained.

"Yeah, that sucks, Cy." She said sympathetically as they got to the doors of the Great Hall. After saying goodbye to each other, Brenna and Cyrus parted for their house tables and afternoon classes.

At 7 o'clock sharp, Sirius and James sat at one of the tables in the library impatiently waiting for their tutees to arrive.

"I hope I get a hot girl." Sirius mused while tapping his fingers on the table.

"With your luck I won't be surprised if you do." James added. "Well I suppose I should go to my own table since Miller did say we had to tutor them privately." Sirius gasped.

"Prongs, why the hell are you considering obeying Miller?" Sirius asked with melodramatic wide eyes.

"Because, Padfoot, I don't particularly feel like spending the rest of the year in this bloody Library," James said as he stood and walking over to a fully visible table across the isle.

A few minutes later, Brenna walked into the library, her dark hair falling around her face nicely. She scanned the tables for the boy that Alice had pointed out earlier as Sirius Black.

Sirius looked up at the sound of the doors swinging open to see the new girl in his year walking in. He couldn't remember what her name was but he remembered the face. _Please Merlin let her be the one that I tutor _he thought glancing sideways at James who had also noticed the girl. Looking back at the new girl, Sirius realised that she was walking toward him, a tote bag slung on one of her shoulders she stopped looking between the two tables that Sirius and James sat at.

"Is one of you guys Sirius Black?" She asked as Sirius grinned and James rolled his eyes.

"That would be me, what can I help you with, gorgeous?" Sirius said as the girl turned to face looking him up and down quickly.

"Most likely nothing" She said as she took a seat at the table earning a snicker from James and raised eyebrows from Sirius.

"You know I am going to be tutoring you, gorgeous."

"I am aware, and you can stop calling me gorgeous or I'll hang you upside down from the ceiling of the Great Hall." She said with a venomously sweet smile.

"You think you could do that? The girl that's here for tutoring thinks she can take on a legendary Marauder?" Sirius asked challengingly.

"I'm here because Miller thinks that I need to be quote 'brought up to speed'. What he doesn't realise is that I could also hang him upside down from the ceiling of the Great Hall."

"Cocky one isn't she, Padfoot?" James asked from the other table.

"Not cocky, I simply have a very accurate sense of my abilities. Now aren't you supposed to be tutoring me?" She asked irritably as her brother walked into the library and toward the two tables.

"Oi, are you James Potter?" He called walking up the isle.

"Oh kill me now, a bloody Slytherin." James muttered as Cyrus came to a stop in front of the tables. "You're late" James said glaring as Cyrus merely shrugged sitting down.

"So sue me." Then, glancing across the isle and seeing his sister, Cyrus smiled. "How's it going, Bren?"

"I just finished explaining that if Black calls me gorgeous again I'll hang him from the ceiling of the Great Hall."

"You realise if you do that Malfoy might kiss you right?" Cyrus asked as James and Sirius exchanged a confused look. Brenna pulled a face before answering.

"Never mind I'll come up with something else."

"Oi, you're supposed to be getting tutored not socializing." James said irritably to Cyrus and Brenna. Rolling her eyes, Brenna turned back to face Sirius.

"Ok I suppose we should start over, I'm Sirius Black." He said with a smile.

"Brenna Templar" She said giving a curt nod and a half smile.

"Well Gorgeous I-" Sirius started but stopped short when he was hoisted in the air by his heel. "What the bloody hell?" He asked calling the attention of both James and Cyrus.

"I told you not to call me Gorgeous now didn't I?" She asked still holding him in the air.

"Merlin, woman put me down." He said as the blood rushed to his head. Shrugging Brenna lowered him to the ground. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" He practically spat at her.

"Oi don't talk to my sister like that!" Cyrus said standing up.

"It's alright Cy. And in response to your question, I was simply demonstrating to you that I know the Levicorpus Spell, its right there on your list." She said with a small smirk. "Merlin Black calm down you're a fifth year Gryffindor not a three year old!" Brenna said at the look on his face.

Sirius and Cyrus sat back down, James grinning at Brenna's audacity.

"Right well let's get back to the tutoring and from now on give me some warning before you decide to show me a spell." Sirius said.

The rest of the hour went by much better. No one was hoisted into the air and no fights threatened to break out. Surprisingly enough, James and Cyrus got along fairly well as long as neither one insulted the other's house or things that went with their house. Sirius continuously flirted with Brenna and she simply responded with a snarky comment or an eye roll. At the end, right before they would leave for their respective common rooms, the four students sat at one table discussing when they would meet again.

"Well, Thursday's Quidditch tryouts and Friday's the first practice so we can't do those." Sirius said referring to himself and James.

"What positions do you play?" Brenna asked genuinely curious, she had always enjoyed Quidditch though she didn't play very often.

"I'm Seeker and Sirius is a Beater, do you play?" James asked.

"A bit, mostly Chaser." She answered.

"Well you should try out for the team; we need a couple new chasers this year our old ones graduated." Sirius explained.

"Maybe I will." She said with a small smile.

"Slytherin's got Quidditch trails tomorrow so that won't work for me, but we can all do Wednesday."

"Yeah but Miller said that we had do to have 3 sessions a week." James pointed out.

"What he doesn't know can't hurt him, and if he asks just say we're meeting on Saturday in the morning or something. Technically he didn't say we had to be in the library, our tutoring can be out on the grounds." Brenna pointed out.

"I like the way you think. So we'll do Wednesday and Saturday." James said.

"Have you guys ever duelled before?" Sirius asked Brenna and Cyrus who exchanged a significant glance and nodded. "I figure that we could always work on these spells by practice duelling that way we're more than prepared for class on Thursday." Sirius suggested. "We can practice outside in the courtyard, instead of in here."

"You four need to return to your Common Rooms now, the library is closing for the night." Madam Pince told them eyeing Sirius and James suspiciously. The four students stood up and walked quietly out of the Library, Madam Pince's gaze following them out the door.

"See you later, Bren." Cyrus said as he walked toward the dungeons completely ignoring the other two Gryffindors as a Slytherin would.

"Is he always that much of an ass?" James asked as the three began walking to Gryffindor Tower.

"He's only like that because he's a Slytherin and you're a Gryffindor." Brenna said somewhat hinting at the fact that her brother was not really a Slytherin.

"So he's like that to you too?" Sirius asked drawing the conclusion that since Brenna was also a Gryffindor Cyrus would treat her like dirt.

"Of course not, if he did I'd beat the crap out of him." Brenna said with a small shrug. The two boys looked at her.

"So you could beat up your brother who's a Slytherin?" James questioned.

"Why does the fact that he's in Slytherin always play a factor for you guys?" She asked once again she said that her brother was _in _Slytherin not _a _Slytherin.

"Because Slytherins are ruthless and don't like to be beaten at anything." Sirius said as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"You guys beat Slytherins all the time so obviously you don't think it's impossible, you just think that because I'm a girl I wouldn't have the guts to do it."

"Hey, no offence, but most girls steer clear of that sort of thing, you know duels and hexing and stuff. It tends to get messy when it involves Slytherin." James explained.

"I guess I'm not most girls. And a word of advice, you two might not want to hex my brother, he gets a little…competitive."

"Well we like a little competition." Sirius said confidently.

"You only like competition you can beat, but you can't beat my brother if he was only using half his skill." Brenna said just as confidently.

"How do you know how much skill it would take to beat us in a duel if you've never seen us duel?" James asked pointedly.

"Seeing as you guys didn't learn the elements of a duel until yesterday, I can make an educated guess."

"Just because we weren't _taught _how to duel doesn't mean we don't know how." Sirius said knowing that he had duelled many times before.

"But are you good enough to duel my brother? The answer is no, I'm sure about that."

"You said you could beat your brother, so that means that you're better than him, right?" James asked trying to figure out this mysteriously confident new girl.

"Either that, or he's not willing to hex his sister." Sirius added.

"He's not willing to hex me because he's not willing to take the consequences. But then again, you guys are right, I haven't seen you duel, so how could I possibly know your ability levels, right?" She asked turning a full circle in their conversation back to where they first began.

"Would you like to see us duel?" Sirius asked with a half smile.

"I don't know it might get messy." She said with an innocent smile and shrug.

"For some reason I get the feeling you like things messy." Sirius said with a little sexual innuendo.

"Wouldn't you like to know" She said with a seductive smile before saying the password to Gryffindor Tower and stepping through the Portrait Hole.

"It seems like you're smitten Padfoot." James said chuckling at the shocked look on his mate's face and stepping through the portrait hole.

**A/N: Review anyone?**


	4. Secrets

**Chapter 4: Secrets**

"Right so how are we going to decide who duels who?" Brenna asked as Cyrus joined them in the courtyard for their tutoring session on Thursday night.

"I say the tutors go first against each other." Cyrus answered, after all they had to figure out how much of their skill to use.

"Alright, Padfoot, ready to get to arse kicked?" James asked with a smirk.

The two boys faced each other in the center of the courtyard, bowed, then turned and walked tree paces away from each other.

"3, 2, 1 duel." Brenna counted in as the James shouted the stunning spell and Sirius used a blocking spell. Turning to her brother she whispered, "I think we can trust them with our secret."

"Brenna, no, we can't tell them, not yet at least." Cyrus whispered back watching the two duel.

"Well we can show them a little of what we can do, as long as they promise to keep it a secret." She said, for some reason she trusted the two Gryffindors who were duelling in front of her. "James nice dance!" She called as Sirius hit him with Tarantellegra and sent his legs dancing uncontrollably.

"What makes you think they'll keep it a secret?" Cyrus asked still studying the duel.

"They have a secret of their own that they don't want to be told. That's why the four 'marauders' are so close." Just then Sirius shot a stunning spell at James who had almost lost his balance in his dance and hadn't noticed. James flew backward as the spell hit him and Sirius smirked.

"Fine, we'll show them a bit." Cyrus agreed walking over to James and saying the counter curse.

"I guess you won, Sirius, congrats." Brenna said with a smile.

"That I did." Then James stood up frowning at Sirius.

"You got lucky that's it, you're not a better wizard than me." He said obviously upset that he had lost, Sirius merely grinned.

"Alright, let's see the Templar twins then." He said as Brenna and Cyrus walked to the center of the court yard while they bowed to each other Brenna whispered to her brother.

"Don't go easy on me, I won't go easy on you, it'll be fun to test ourselves against each other again."

"Oh it's on." He whispered back as they both turned and walked the customary three strides.

"3, 2, 1 duel." James called and instantly Brenna whipped her wand through the air shooting a non-verbal spell at her brother.

With a slash of Cyrus' wand the blue light Brenna had shot at him was deflected.

"Holy crap" Sirius said in awe as the two began to circle each other, still duelling non-verbally. Every second a spell was shot and deflected by the opponent. Their duelling became more rapid and intense, but they still walked in careful circles maintaining an equal distance between them, if one sped up the other did as well, mostly it was Brenna who changed the pace from slower to fast and back to slow.

"You've been practicing Cyrus." Brenna said as she was nearly hit by one of his spells. Slowly she increased her pace and Cyrus moved faster as well.

"I have" Cyrus responded.

Sirius and James were still watching wide-eyed, they weren't even able to use non-verbal spells let alone carry out a conversation while duelling with them. While James and Sirius had stood still only moving to dodge the occasional spell, Brenna and Cyrus were in constant motion, moving in circles not quite walking but something along those lines on the balls of their feet, crossing them quickly one in front of the other. Then Brenna shot a particularly hard spell at her brother who barely managed to deflect it and rocked back a bit from the impact.

"Damn I guess she wasn't kidding." James muttered to Sirius eyes still trained on the duel as Cyrus retaliated with a strong hex of his own. Brenna ducked slightly as she deflected the charm with an incredibly powerful shield that caused a ball of white/blue light where the two spells met.

"Well this has gone on long enough." Brenna said and before Cyrus could respond Brenna spun out from the circle she had been walking in and back in. Using the momentum of the spin, Brenna shot her most powerful spell yet. It was so powerful that it blew through the shield Cyrus had used and threw him backwards at least 10 feet to the back of the courtyard.

"Oh crap" She said running toward her brother and quickly followed by Sirius and James.

James and Sirius stood completely stunned, looking at Cyrus lying on the ground. He wasn't bleeding or anything and he didn't seem to have broken anything but he was unconscious.

"Shit Brenna what the hell did you do?" James asked looking at her with wide, worried eyes. Brenna pointed her wand at Cyrus and a green stream of light flowed from her wand and surrounded Cyrus. As the light dimmed Cyrus blinked open his eyes, a green aura around him. Sitting up he shook his head to clear it.

"Well that's gonna hurt in the morning." He said smiling as Brenna offered him a hand up. "Nice hit, I must say I didn't think it would be that strong." Cyrus grinned proudly at his twin who smiled at him before they turned to acknowledge the two very shocked Gryffindors.

"Say something" Brenna said biting her lip as she looked between the two boys.

"That was bloody amazing." Sirius said his eyes still wide as Brenna and Cyrus chuckled at the awe in his voice.

"So what do you think, can you still beat us in a duel?" She asked as the two boys shook their heads. "There's one thing about everything you've seen tonight…"

"You can't repeat a word of anything you've seen or heard." Cyrus finished and the two boys looked at them confusedly.

"What? Why?"

"It would raise questions we can't answer, its best if no one knows." Brenna explained.

"Why?" Sirius asked still not really understanding the need for secrecy.

"We can't answer that" Cyrus said surprisingly patiently.

"If you can't answer any of our questions then why'd you show us?" James asked as Cyrus turned to look at Brenna.

"Brenna I'll let you answer that, I've got to get back to the dungeons." He said walking around the Gryffindors back to the entrance of the courtyard. "Bren, I mean it don't say anything."

"Oh ye of little faith!" She said rolling her eyes.

"Oi, and you two, talk to me in the corridors and I'll hex you." He added as he grabbed his bag and walked back into the school leaving Brenna to explain everything to James and Sirius.

"So why'd you show us?" Sirius asked shaking his head at Cyrus' rather confusing exit.

"I don't know" She said shrugging.

"So it was your brother's decision?" James asked confused, he couldn't see Cyrus wanting to tell them anything.

"No, it was my decision, Cyrus just trusts my judgement way too much. I guess I just figured that we can trust you guys." She said shrugging.

"Well you can trust us; we know how to keep a secret." Sirius said exchanging a look with James.

"I figured as much." Brenna said giving them a smile.

"Oh you did?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but there's no way that four guys are that close unless they're hiding something, or you're all gay, which is totally cool if you are." She said pretty sure that they weren't gay and causing James and Sirius to erupt with laughter.

"We're not gay!" Sirius said wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.

"That's what I've heard, so it's definitely because of a secret." Brenna said as they all sat on a bench in the courtyard.

"Really who have you heard from?" James asked.

"Lily, Alice and Marlene, they said something like the Marauders have a new prank everyday, and a new girl every week." Brenna said as the smiles fell from Sirius and James' faces.

"Who said that?" Sirius asked sternly.

"Lily I think…but it could've been Alice." She added the last part quickly seeing the pained look that crossed James' face when she said it was Lily. "And really I think they were mostly talking about Sirius."

"Hey!" Sirius said looking at her incredulously.

"It's true; I've been here, what, two days? And already I know it's true." James smiled a bit at the look on his friend's face. It was almost pained, disappointed. "You guys are taking this all extremely well; I think I would be asking a lot more questions."

"We're not done with the questions."

"Yeah, where did you learn that?"

"Can't answer that" Brenna said shaking her head.

"What spell did you use?"

"It's very complicated and if you two used it McGonagall would have my head for teaching you." She answered earning a _humph _from Sirius.

"Okay, let's try this, what can you tell us?" James asked running a hand through his hair.

"I can tell you that my brother and I know a lot of magic, that the only teachers who know are McGonagall and Dumbledore, which is why we ended up with tutors, that if you try to talk to Cyrus or prank him or put him in a less than ideal position he will hex you. I can tell you that tomorrow in Defence, my brother and I will duel exactly the way you two did this evening, which is why it was good for us to see how you duel. I can tell you that it is absolutely crucial that no one suspects us as anything but regular, mediocre students."

"Why is secrecy so big for you two?"

"If I told you it wouldn't be much of a secret now would it? But really, it's far too risky for us to tell anyone that we aren't 100% sure we can trust."

"Why did you choose to tell McGonagall and not the other teachers?" James asked still puzzled by Brenna's intense requirement of secrecy.

"I am 100% sure I can trust her, she would never say anything to anyone that isn't supposed to know and she looks out for Cyrus and me. She knows how to keep our secret."

"All this secrecy, jeez you act like it's a matter of life or death!" Sirius said exasperated at constantly being told 'I can't answer that'. Brenna regarded him with a straight face, she didn't say anything concerning Sirius' comment, she didn't laugh or smile at it. She simply looked at both Gryffindor boys as their eyes once again widened.

"I think we ought to go back to the tower now. Remember, if either of you say anything to anyone, and I mean _anyone, _you will both regret it. And by the way, Lupin and Pettigrew are included in anyone, tell them and I will personally take care you're lapse in control, understand?" Brenna said standing up and looking at them menacingly. The way her demeanour went from pleasant to threatening was shocking and it scared the two boys a bit.

"Yeah, we get it, but really Moony and Wormtail wouldn't say anything." Brenna looked at James with a raised eyebrow as he used his mates' nicknames.

"I presume you mean Lupin and Pettigrew, but really I don't care, tell anyone and you will have made the worst mistake of your lives." She said staring coldly at the two boys.

"Fine, we get it."

"Good, and I know you guys are wondering why I won't let you tell your mates who evidently have kept your secrets and really it has a simple I answer, I don't know them so I don't trust them. Plus I prefer to tell people secrets myself instead of a third party." The three began to walk back to the Gryffindor Common Room in contemplative silence.

"Brenna, why does your brother listen to you?" Sirius asked randomly.

"What?" She asked giving him a puzzled look.

"You said that telling us was your call and obviously your brother didn't exactly want to tell us but he went with it because you decided. So why did he go with it? Are you the older twin?" He asked as Brenna frowned slightly thinking about her answer. After a few moments she shrugged.

"I don't really know how to answer that. I'm not older though, Cyrus is, only by a few minutes, but that's not it. I think the only way I could answer that would be to tell you things that I can't. So I guess I'm going to go with, we just listen to each other. I listen to him, he listens to me."

"You never really answer anything do you?" Sirius asked as both he and James looked unsatisfied with her response.

"I tell you guys what I can. Now remember-"

"Yeah, yeah we know. Don't tell anyone anything or I'll kill you." James recited her warning.

"I never actually said I'd kill you, that would be _illegal_, but then you guys know all about illegal things." She said as James and Sirius' eyes widened for the umpteenth time that night, as they reached the portrait hole. "Centaur"

"What're you saying?" Sirius asked as Brenna stepped through into the Common Room.

"See you later Black, Potter."

"Do you reckon she knows?" James asked as Brenna walked up the stairs to the girls' dorms.

"I hope to Merlin not, no one can know." Sirius answered as the two boys proceeded into the Common Room.


	5. The Other Black

**Chapter 5: The Other Black**

"Alright class gather round, today we will be practicing duelling. Please form a circle around the mats here and we'll begin."

Excitedly, the students obliged and spread into a lopsided circle, Slytherins on one side and Gryffindors on the other. Brenna stood with Lily, Alice and Marlene and Cyrus stood diagonally across the circle from her with Malfoy and others.

"Good, now I'm hoping you all were paying attention last class because today you will be duelling against your classmates. It will be a test of knowledge but also a test of skill and agility. You will need to move and think quickly to win your duel." Professor Miller said as he looked around the circle and his students, as he was mentioning skill and agility, Sirius caught Brenna's eye before she looked away hoping she had made the right decision in telling-or rather showing-them.

"So I'm going to need two volunteers to start us off, everyone needs to pay attention to the duels, analyzing the way your fellow students fight can improve your techniques by adopting some of theirs and also knowing what to expect from opponents. Alright, I think we're ready to begin. Any volunteers?" Instantly the Marauders' hands, except Peter of course, shot up in the air, though Remus was more hesitant, along with Cyrus' group of Slytherins and a few other Gryffindor boys. Only a few Slytherin girls, Brenna, Alice, Marlene and Lily (after Marlene grabbed her hand a pulled it up) volunteered, the others being too hesitant and content with watching the boys.

"Alright so we're not getting into house rivalry right now. Let's see Mister Derby and Mister Wilson up first." Miller said as the two Gryffindor boys walked to the center of the circle. Suffice it to say, those who were not chosen were disappointed, particularly the Marauders who loved an opportunity to show their superiority.

The entire class watched the first duel as Professor Miller walked them through the appropriate positions, leaving spells for them to decide. Once they were done and Andrew Derby won the duel, they returned to the edge of the circle. It had been rather subdued, more of a tutorial and a succession of hexes than a high speed, high power duel.

"Alright, now that you have all seen what a duel should look like albeit faster, I want you all to find a partner and practice duelling, every 10 minutes you will switch partners to test your skills against other people. On Friday we will have a duelling competition, so practice." Miller said as the class dispersed to practice.

"Brenna, want to be my partner?" Lily asked as Alice and Marlene partnered together. James and Sirius, who decided to be partners so as to escape Peter's hexes, were standing close to Brenna and Lily, and James, idiot that he was didn't think Lily would be safe duelling against Brenna.

"Be my partner Lily?" He said on impulse, his eyes slightly widened as he tried to protect Lily from suffering the injuries that Cyrus had received last night. Brenna glared at James and Sirius as Lily turned to face them completely annoyed.

"Not on your life Potter, I don't want to be your partner and I don't want to go out with you. Just leave me alone. Come on Brenna." Lily said aggravated as she turned away from the boys and walked away toward Marlene and Alice.

As Brenna turned to follow Lily she glared at James.

"Keep your mouth shut, Potter." She hissed menacingly.

After she walked away and began practicing with Lily, Sirius hit James on the back of his head.

"Idiot, what the bloody hell were you thinking?" James didn't respond as he rubbed the sore spot on his head. "You realise she doesn't trust us now and there's an even smaller chance that she'll tell us anything? Damn it Prongs, she knows enough not to hurt Evans! _Idiot._"

"Look I'm sorry, Padfoot, jeez, I didn't think sorry."

"Yeah well, let's just practice."

:.:.:

Brenna was walking down an empty corridor on the way to her last class of the day, History of Magic, one she didn't share with Lily, Alice or Marlene. As she rounded one of the corners she saw Malfoy intimidating and threatening to hex a small first year Gryffindor boy.

"Malfoy" At the sound of his name, Lucius Malfoy's blonde head snapped in her direction.

"Ah the lovely Brenna Templar, I'd love to chat, but as you can see I'm a bit busy at the moment. Perhaps we can meet later tonight." He said with a suggestive smile.

"I most certainly will not be _meeting _you tonight or any night for that matter, you disgust me." She spat the last few words at him as his eyebrows rose slightly surprised.

"Now, now Brenna I'm sure you don't mean that" He began as the first year watched the two nervously.

"I mean every bloody word of it. Let him go." She said firmly holding his eye contact.

"Why would I do that? I was simply having a nice _chat _with this Gryffindor." He sneered.

"Well your chat is over." She said ready to grab her wand if she needed it, sensing Malfoy's hesitance to let the kid go and focus on her instead she added, "What's the matter Malfoy? Do you get kicks out of hexing first years, kids 4 years younger than you? I guess it's understandable considering you don't have skill or guts to take on a fifth year Hufflepuff let alone a Gryffindor."

Brenna didn't think any less of the Hufflepuffs' skill level, but she knew their reputation for being weak and not the best duellers and so she taunted him with it.

"Walk away Templar before you get in over your head" He glared coldly at her but took a couple steps away from the boy and towards her.

"Afraid you'll be beaten by a girl?" She taunted, they were only a few paces apart now, perfect for duelling and as Malfoy raised his wand, Brenna whipped hers out using the non-verbal incantation, _Stupefy, _as she aimed at Malfoy's chest.

"Tarent-" Malfoy's hex was cut off as Brenna's stunning spell hit him and he fell backwards. The first year looked at her in awe.

"That was awesome!" He said grinning and looking between Brenna's lowered wand and Malfoy lying on the ground. She smiled at him.

"You alright?" The young boy nodded and walked over to her.

"That was really cool; could you teach me how to do that?" Brenna chuckled at the young boy's enthusiasm.

"You'll learn it when you're a bit older. What class are you going to?"

"Herbology, what about you?" He asked as the two began walking down the corridor toward the staircases.

"History of Magic, I hear it's pretty boring. I'm Brenna Templar by the way, fifth year, I just transferred." She said introducing herself.

"Roger Davies, first year, and History of Magic is _really _boring, I had it this morning."

"I suppose I could always do with a bit more sleep." She said as the staircases came into view. "Well Roger I'll see you around, let me know if Malfoy bothers you again, alright? Something tells me he's not a quick learner."

"Alright I will, thanks Brenna. Have fun in History of Magic." He said waving as he hurried down the stairs to join a few more first years and Brenna continued on her way to the History of Magic Classroom.

Brenna sat down in a desk by the window near the back of the room, that way she'd at least be able to look at the grounds during what would surely be a boring lesson. That was exactly what she was doing when a black haired boy with grey eyes walked over to her, he bore a striking resemblance to Sirius and was what most girls would consider attractive though not as attractive as the latter.

"You're sitting in my seat." He said as she turned to look up at him noticing the Slytherin robes and arrogant demeanour.

"Sorry, I'm new, but there are plenty of other seats." Brenna wasn't exactly shy or sheepish and wasn't going to move just because a Slytherin told her to.

"Not with a window" He said still looking at her coldly.

"I know that's why I chose this seat. Maybe you should've gotten here sooner." Brenna swore she saw the corner of his lips twitch up when she said that.

"I don't like sitting with Gryffindors." He said as though that was going to make her move.

"Well there are a few seats open at the front." She said with a fake sweet smile. Just then Professor Binns walked-or should I say floated-into the room.

"Mr Black, take a seat." He said in a boring monotone voice as the boy, scowling, pulled out the chair next to Brenna's desk and sat down.

"Please tell me you're not one of those people that take notes and insist on listening to everything the professor says." The boy muttered as he pulled out his textbook and opened it to a random page.

"To be honest I was planning on having a quiet, peaceful nap in this class, but obviously that's not going to happen now." She whispered back glancing out the window.

"I won't talk to you." The boy said sitting in his chair with a lazy nonchalance that would have taken years to perfect.

"I'm more worried that I'd wake up with no hair." Once again the corner of his mouth tugged upward slightly as did an eyebrow.

"Why would you think that? Just because I'm a Slytherin?" he asked eyes flickering from her to the front of the room to make sure Binns hadn't noticed.

"Actually, I might have hexed Malfoy on the way to class and I figure he's got some friends in here." Brenna replied with a shrug glancing out at the glassy lake.

"Malfoy, as in Lucius Malfoy?" When Brenna simply nodded the boy continued. "Then it's probably wise for you not to nap in any classes." Brenna turned back to look at the boy and noticed that his eyes, which had been bored looked mildly amused and interested.

"That's what I thought. I'm Brenna Templar by the way." The boy's eyes showed that he recognized her name, most likely because of Cyrus, and he gave a curt nod.

"Any relation to Cyrus Templar?" He asked glancing lazily around the room.

"Yes, he's my twin." She replied as he looked back at her.

"I'm Regulus Black."

"Any relation to Sirius Black?" She asked in the same manor.

"Older brother" He answered shortly, obviously the two weren't exactly fond of each other, or if they were, then they didn't show it to the outside world, whether because of the house rivalry or because Sirius was the only Black to be sorted into Gryffindor. Instead of commenting, Brenna gave a short nod.

"Let me know if I catch on fire or suddenly become bald, yeah?" She asked barely stifling a yawn.

"Sure, Templar" He answered as Brenna rested her head on one of her hands as she gazed out the window tiredly.

**A/N: So let me know what you think, I'd love to hear anything from you. **

**Reviews will help Sirius and James find out more about Brenna and Cyrus, where they came from and why they're at Hogwarts!**

**~Orion**


	6. The Greeneyed Monster

**Chapter 6: The Green-Eyed Monster**

James and Sirius walked into the History of Magic room. Normally they were never early for class it was unheard of, but today, for some odd reason, they weren't pranking a random Slytherin or wandering the corridors looking for someone random to hex. Instead they were doing the unthinkable…going to class early.

Taking their normal seats at the back of the class, James and Sirius began brainstorming ways to get the infamous Lily Evans to say 'yes', the first Hogsmeade trip was usually the first or second weekend of September. A few minutes later, Brenna walked into the class and Sirius' breath caught in his throat as he watched her glide across the room, the sun glinting blue off her black hair which draped her back. Without really looking at Sirius or James or the rest of the class, she took a seat on the far left of the room, one right beside a window in the second last row. The window seats were usually the first to go, but that particular seat remained empty even with only a couple minutes to the bell for one reason…the person that normally occupied the seat.

Regulus Black was not someone people messed with. 5ft11" with shaggy black hair and arrogant grey eyes he looked a lot like his brother. Sirius Black was 6ft and had longer shaggy black hair with grey eyes, though Sirius' grey was more stormy and striking than his brother's and his entire appearance was often judged more charming. Every girl admitted that the Black boys were hot, they were the standard.

They both had an air of arrogant disposition, a lazy nonchalance and mystery that made girls fall for them and at least want to know more. Neither one was very affectionate. Sirius was a playboy and Regulus just didn't show much of any emotion, this made girls want to be the one to change that, they wanted to be the one to make them go crazy.

Naturally, Sirius was the more appealing of the two; he was a Gryffindor, a member of the Marauders and practically royalty. Regulus was a Slytherin and in the eyes of Hogwarts' society he was frowned upon. When it came down to Slytherin or Gryffindor, the school would choose Gryffindor without much thought. The Slytherins had a reputation as bullies and dark wizards. He rarely showed sentiment besides hostility toward the other houses, Gryffindors in particular.

The two Black brothers were in the same year at Hogwarts though they were not twins. Regulus was 11 months younger than Sirius and that meant that the two boys were constantly living in each other's shadows, forever competing against each other to be better in the eyes of their parents (though Sirius had given up on that long ago letting Regulus take the lime light with the family) and everyone else. They strived to be better at Quidditch, at duelling and anything else that could be measurable.

This competition is what hit Sirius when he noticed that Brenna had unknowingly taken Regulus' seat in the class. No one else would've dared to do something like that, everyone knew Regulus had a mean streak, hell all Blacks had a mean streak. Silently, Sirius watched his brother stalk into the room and over to his usual seat, the seat Brenna sat in looking out the window.

He knew that Brenna could hold her own. He knew that she could hex Regulus to pieces, but somehow that knowledge did nothing to calm him. Just the possibility of Regulus hexing her or even posing a threat to Brenna made Sirius want to jump out of his chair and hit the prat in the face. It was irrational and he had _never _felt this way before. He never felt the need to protect a girl before, to keep them safe.

James was very conscious of Sirius watching Brenna and Regulus. He too was watching them, just to make sure a duel didn't erupt in the middle of the classroom, but from what he could see, Brenna and Regulus weren't going to spontaneously combust. Of course, he knew that Sirius was really concerned about Brenna; he recognised the intensity that he watched her. James looked at Lily that way when she was with Snivellus or other guys, particularly Slytherins, or at least he thought he did. All James ever wanted was to make Lily happy and keep her safe. If anyone ever presented as any kind of threat, even minor, James was prone to over react, take today's Defence class as evidence.

The way Sirius watched Brenna talking to his brother, whispering to him throughout the lesson and listening to what he said in return, was tainted with jealousy. It was almost like Sirius was watching his brother beat him at Quidditch-alright well that wouldn't happen in Sirius' head-it was like watching Regulus excel easily at something Sirius found extremely challenging, in this case, Brenna. He didn't have a conversation with Brenna the way Regulus did. Sure, she had shown him something she didn't trust anyone else with, but the rest of the time she gave him answers that had tons of meanings to them, she never really gave him a straight answer, everything was coded.

But with Regulus, Brenna seemed to be having an actual conversation with him. There were questions that had straight forward answers, comments and replies. Sirius hated watching his brother, a Slytherin; interact better with the newest fifth year Gryffindor than him. I mean really, Brenna was a girl and girls _loved _Sirius, there were tons of them around him all the time, every one of them wanting to be around him. So why was Brenna different?

_I guess I'm not most girls. _Brenna's words from their first tutoring session rang in his head as he suddenly became aware of James' eyes studying him.

"What?" Sirius whispered more at James than to him.

"What are you looking at?" James asked knowingly.

"Nothing, day dreaming" Sirius answered averting his gaze from Brenna and Regulus.

"Really? So you're not looking at Brenna talking to Regulus?"

"No, why would I be?" Sirius lied, something that was obvious to his best mate of 4 years.

"That's a lie" James stared at his friend for a few moments before Sirius sighed.

"I just don't trust him okay? He's a slimy creep."

"And you can't stand the fact that he's actually having a conversation with her whereas you've only asked questions and gotten cryptic answers." James said knowing his friend way too well. Sirius' eyes narrowed as James smirked knowing everything he said was right.

"He's still a slimy creep." Sirius muttered looking away again.

"I never said he wasn't. But I'm just saying you might not want to beat the crap out of him for talking to her, take it from me when I say that girls don't like it when guys beat up their friends." Sirius' head snapped back to James and he glared at him.

"They're not friends; she knows more than to be friends with him." He said though he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself.

"Well do you think she's going to come to Quidditch Trials tonight? We really need a new Seeker."

"I reckon we should ask her again, remind her and force her to come if we have to."

"You realise we can't actually force her to come right?" James asked raising an eyebrow at his friend.

"Sure we can, we are the Marauders after all."

"Yeah but she knows way more magic than we do." James pointed out wondering where Sirius' memory of the duel they witnessed between Cyrus and Brenna had gone.

"So we use force, sling her over your shoulder and carry her down." Sirius gave a nonchalant shrug.

"I'm thinking we should just ask her, and if it comes to force, you're the one that's kidnapping her." James said before they both returned to their previous engagements of staring aimlessly around the room.

At the end of the lesson Brenna and Regulus packed up their things silently. Neither one had spoken through out the majority of the lesson, only a little spatter of a conversation.

"Next time the window seat's mine, Templar." Regulus said as he packed away the last of his things.

"We'll see" She answered knowing that she would be first to class in order to claim the seat.

"That we will" Regulus said his mouth once again twitching into a ghost of a smile before walking away leaving Brenna to finish packing her unused parchment and quill.

Sirius and James walked over to her as soon as Regulus had left; they figured it would be best not to start a fight with Quidditch that night.

"Hey Brenna, are you going to come to Quidditch Trials tonight?" James asked as Brenna turned to face them finished packing her bag.

"Um, yeah I think so; you guys said Gryffindor needed a Seeker right?" _Thank Merlin Sirius isn't going to try and kidnap her now. _James thought nodding.

"Yeah we do, do you need a broom because you can always borrow one for the trials until you can get one." Sirius asked as Brenna smiled.

"No I brought mine; I could never leave it at home." She said shaking her head at the idea as the three walked out of the now empty classroom.

"Oh yeah, what model is it?" James asked completely attentive since they were talking about one of his favourite subjects (the other being Lily, or 'Lily-flower' as James nicknamed her).

"Nimbus 1500" Both boys' eyes widened and looks of surprise grew on their faces.

"Really? That's the best broom on the market!" Brenna smiled at them her eyes twinkling brightly, she honestly loved Quidditch, it was nice break from her hectic life…plus she was pretty good at it.

"I know I love it."

"I heard it reaches 100 miles an hour in 10 ten seconds"

"And it can turn 360 degrees at a fixed point in mid-air." Sirius and James added in a description of the broom's superior qualities just as enthused as Brenna.

"Yeah, it's the best broom I've ever had."

"Damn you are so lucky." James said shaking his head.

"What model do you guys have?"

"We've both got Nimbus 1000's; James' parents gave them to us when we made the team in second year." Sirius answered.

"Nimbus' are the best. They combine the easy handling of the Cleensweeps with the reliability of an Oakshaft 79." Brenna said happy to finally have someone to talk about Quidditch and brooms with; Cyrus was easily bored with the topic, mostly because he had the same broom as Brenna and knew the exact same things as she did.

"You really know brooms, huh?" James commented.

"Well, Quidditch is a good distraction, so I know a lot about it." _And there she goes with the cryptic words again! Really, what does she need to distract herself from? _Sirius thought, though he didn't voice his concern out loud. "Anyway, what time are the trials at again?"

"They start at 5, and you should probably wear something you can run in because the captain, Wood, likes to make us run laps. He says that it helps weed out the ones that aren't committed."

"Yeah, because usually a bunch of Sirius' fan girls show up pretending to want to try out just so they can see their 'amazing _Sirikins'_." James elaborated as Sirius shoved him hard into the wall and Brenna looked at them both with raised eyebrows.

"Sirikins, huh?" She asked stifling a laugh. Sirius glared at James.

"You just had to say that didn't you?" James shrugged keeping a slightly farther distance so Sirius didn't punch or shove him.

"Really though, Sirikins?" Brenna asked somewhat disbelievingly.

"Shut up, it wasn't my idea." Sirius grumbled running a hand through his hair.

"Hey, no judgement…but really _Sirikins _that's the best they could come up with?" James burst out laughing at Brenna's comment.

"No one ever said they were smart." Sirius laughed with James and Brenna. He was actually having a conversation, a conversation with the mysterious new girl, a conversation with Brenna. Smiling like an idiot, Sirius walked alongside Brenna and James up to the portrait hole.

"Right well, I'll see you later, there's homework that needs doing." Brenna said stepping into Gryffindor tower and after the boys had said a quick 'goodbye' she joined the other girls that she shared a dorm with.

**A/N: Please review, i dont know what you like and what you hate unless you review. Quite a few people read this story and not 1 single person reviews! So be the first one...review. **


	7. Complications

**A/N: Thank you so much to azuresilver for being the first and ONLY reviewer. *glares disappointedly* Please please please review. **

**Chapter 7: Complications**

After finishing her homework with Lily and the others in the Library, Brenna hurried back up to Gryffindor Tower so she could change and get her things ready for Quidditch. Alice, Lily and Marlene had wished her luck though none of them would try out and Lily wouldn't go anywhere near the Quidditch Pitch with James being there since it would most likely result in him harassing her.

They had told her that the team had been all boys for 2 years now since Gryffindor didn't have many good Quidditch playing girls, and most of them only pretended to be interested in Quidditch because Sirius and James played. So that meant that if she did make the team, which hopefully she would, Brenna would be most likely playing on a team with 6 other guys.

At quarter to four, Brenna grabbed her broom and walked down to the near empty Common Room, it seemed that a lot of people either watched the Trials or participated in them. When she reached the Pitch she saw that James and Sirius were already down there taking to another guy that looked to be a 7th year.

Quite a few people had showed up to try for the two spots that were open, a chaser and Seeker. Clusters of boys, mostly younger or the same age as Brenna stood around the Pitch talking, their brooms slung over their shoulders or in their hands. There were a few girls that clearly didn't belong on the Quidditch Pitch just by their outfits; they were wearing form fitting clothes, some of them in jeans, and low cut, showy tops. It was a miracle that they weren't frozen yet. Even though it was only September, at five o'clock in the evening with wind blowing on the open Pitch, it was cold.

Brenna had dressed more appropriately. She wore a coal grey fitted jacket with a black and white stripe design with a white t-shirt underneath and black pants that were more like tights. They reached down to her ankles ending in her trainers. Her long hair was tied in a French braid that hung down her back. She held her broom in one hand as she looked around the Pitch.

The only people she knew were James and Sirius and both of them were talking to some other guy. Girls glanced at her occasionally but turned back to their groups talking to each other. Guys looked her over, taking in her appearance. She was beautiful, there was no denying that, but her beauty was different than the other girls. She wasn't just 'hot' she was elegant and mysterious. She was exotic and every guy on that Pitch wanted to ask her out, if for nothing but the fact that every guy wanted her.

The boy that had been talking to James and Sirius walked away and the two stood together talking and looking around the Pitch.

"Wood's gonna throw a fit when he sees them all." James muttered as Sirius discreetly looked at the few girls that were audacious enough to show up to Quidditch Trials after all the times they were yelled at by the different Quidditch Captains since their second year. His eyes fell on Brenna who stood somewhat awkwardly at the edge of the Pitch, noticing all the guys that continuously checked her out.

"Bloody vultures" Sirius growled as Peter Fleming, a fifth year with a reputation as a player, walked over to Brenna presumably to flirt with her and ask her out.

"Why do you care so much?" James asked looking sideways at Sirius.

"Wh- I…Why don't you, Prongs? She's new here and she's a Gryffindor, as the Marauders and pretty much the leaders of Gryffindor and the School, we can't just let her be…preyed upon!" James smiled a bit at the urgency in Sirius' voice. He finally found someone, James had Lily-well she still had to yes but that's besides the point- and now Sirius had Brenna, though he still had to admit that he liked her.

"Very true Padfoot, now why don't we, the noble Marauders, go and protect Brenna from the _preying vultures_." Sirius was so intent on getting over to Brenna that he didn't pick up on James' mocking.

"Oi, Fleming, screw off." He said over whatever the boy was saying to Brenna, who was looking annoyed.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you that interrupting people was rude, Black?" Peter said arrogantly.

"Apparently not…How are you, Brenna" He said angling himself so Peter was blocked from the conversation.

"Good thanks, how 'bout you?"

"Oh you've got to be kidding me!" Peter said as he walked away exasperatedly.

"Bye Fleming" Sirius called with a smile as Brenna chuckled a bit.

"He's a bit of an ass isn't he?" Sirius grinned at her.

"Yes, yes he is."

"So when's this thing going to start?" Brenna asked feeling the glares she was receiving from the other girls on the pitch.

"Should be any minute now, Wood just went to get the equipment from the locker room and his broom I think." James answered.

"Speaking of brooms, let's see this Nimbus 1500." Sirius added as Brenna held out the broom for the boys to see.

"You guys can take it for a spin after Trials if you want."

"Seriously? You'd let us?"

"As long as you don't break it, if you do, you're getting me a new one; they just came out in the summer."

"Alright everyone gather round, the Quidditch Trials are beginning." The seventh year boy that Sirius and James had been talking to called as everyone on the Pitch walked towards him.

"For those of you that don't know, I'm Mitchell Wood, I'm a 7th year and this is my second year as Quidditch Captain. Anyone that's here because Black and Potter are, leave right now, I'm not putting up with this again this year. Go back to the Tower." When none of the girls left, probably because they at least wanted to watch the Trials, Wood continued. "Right, put your brooms over here and run two full laps of the Pitch to warm up."

"You do realise that Quidditch is played with brooms and there isn't actually any running involved right?" A blonde haired girl said, sounding extremely bratty. Wood turned to look at the girl, maddened by her questioning his authority and intelligence, obviously he knew how to play Quidditch, he was captain last year.

"Yes I know how to play Quidditch, now get running or leave." The girl scowled but began jogging with two other girls, a dirty blonde and a brunette. "Anyone else have an issue with running? No? Good, get moving." Brenna set her broom down next to Sirius and James'.

"Hey Brenna, you probably don't have to run, we'll tell Wood." Sirius said as Brenna was about to start running.

"It's fine, I like to run and besides, I don't need that blonde coming after me because I didn't have to run, I'll see you guys in a bit." With that she turned and jogged along with everyone else, though when they got to the other end of the Pitch, most people slowed down or stopped for a breather, Brenna on the other hand continued jogging at the same pace.

"Oi Black, Potter" Wood called walking over to them

"We're not running you know we can play and that we're serious about Quidditch, no pun intended." Sirius said when Wood reached them.

"Nah that's fine, but who's the girl, I've never seen her before." Wood asked gesturing to Brenna who had already begun her second lap on the Pitch.

"That's Brenna Templar; she's a new fifth year." James answered, "Why do you ask?"

"She just doesn't look like the others and she's actually running."

"Yeah well she wants to play Seeker."

"Oh really, she's not here for you? You're losing your touch." Wood laughed directing his comment to Sirius. All the girls that ever showed up to Quidditch Trials were only there to see him.

"I'm not _losing my touch_" Sirius said oddly offended by the accusation.

"No, it's just not working on her." James added as the potential players joined them once again in the middle of the pitch.

"Damn, there are still three of them; they're really persistent this year." Wood commented on the blond and her two friends that were still at the Trials, the other girls had gone back to the Tower with the exception of Brenna.

"Alright, grab your brooms. Form two lines, Potter and Black will lead you through the warm up." Wood waved his wand a few times and muttered some incantations as pylons and flares rose into the air creating two parallel floating obstacle courses.

Sirius and James jogged over to their brooms as did Brenna and the others.

"Brenna, go in my line, alright, I'm a way better leader than James."

"Yeah right, who's the leader of the Marauders? Me, not you Padfoot, Brenna you want to be in my line."

"Okay, 1, the Marauders don't have a leader Prongs and, 2, Brenna wants to be in my line."

"Are you guys really arguing over whose line I'm going in?" The two boys smiled sheepishly at Brenna realising how stupid it really was once Brenna said it out loud.

"Well I asked first, so Brenna you have to be in my line, it's only fair." Sirius said attempting to end the argument, though his voice was more hopeful than authoritive. Brenna and James smiled at Sirius' comment, Brenna because it was just funny to see a 16-year-old reverting back to a 6-year-old's tactics and James because he knew Sirius fancied Brenna, whether Sirius knew it or not.

"True, but your line's got that blonde and her friends…"

"Black, Potter get in the air now, we haven't got all night!" Wood yelled as the other people stood waiting for Sirius and James in the middle of the field. Sirius and James swung their legs over their brooms and kicked off.

"Come on Brenna," Sirius called before flying off over to the middle of the field. "Alright, this line here, you're with me, let's go." Sirius chose the line that the blonde girl wasn't in purposely and James had no choice but to take that line.

Brenna swung her leg over her broom and kicked off, soaring into the air and joining Sirius in only a couple seconds.

"See, no annoying blonde and now you're in my line." Sirius said as they waited for the other boys to fly up to meet them. "Oi hurry up, we're starting. Just follow the person in front of you and you should be fine. Do not fall or crash into the person in front of you. Alright let's get started."

Sirius leaned forward on his broom and sped towards the course, weaving through the pylons and going over and under flares. Brenna followed quickly, expertly manoeuvring through the course, the rest of the boys following behind her.

After both lines had finished the course, they landed around Wood who was holding a clipboard.

"Alright, anyone that is trying for Chaser there, Beaters over there, and Seeker there. Last year's team has to try out to, if you're the best then your back on the team, if not…well, you get the point. Let's start with the Chasers. You'll each have 3 tries to get a Quaffle in, and from there I'll decide the three chasers. Potter you're up." James and Wood flew into the air, James holding a Quaffle in one hand.

James got all 3 shots in, though the last one was narrow. A few of the other boys got 2 shots in, including Peter Fleming who was on the team last year, and the blonde's friends both missed all three shots, most of them were way off.

Next up were the beaters. They had to hit the bludgers into the goal posts then try to hit bewitched moving targets. Sirius, of course, hit every target and the other beater from the previous year, George O'Malley, only missed one by a few centimetres. The others that tried weren't nearly as good.

Last were the Seekers. It was dusk by the time they got their chance and visibility was low, as it would be if there were plenty of clouds or rain during a match. For this trial, anyone who wasn't auditioning would fly around the pitch, passing Quaffle to each other and hitting bludgers at the other players. The Snitch would be released and everyone trying for Seeker would be looking for it. The goal was the same in any game, catch the Snitch before anyone else.

There were only three people trying for Seeker, Brenna, the blonde who was named April Keaton, and another boy, Steven. The three took off, each of them searching for the Snitch that Wood had just released, he would be staying on the ground to asses the Seekers.

Brenna by far was the best flier. She had the superior broom but more than that, she was balanced and unafraid of falling or going exceptionally fast. To dodge bludgers she would spiral to the side or simply move her body, letting her broom remain on course. April was alright, but you could tell that she was scared slightly; you could sense her hesitance to take risks. Steven was the same as April but mostly kept to himself only glancing occasionally at the competitors.

April knew that Brenna was a good player, so her strategy was either to 'accidently' knock her of her broom or follow her around until she found the Snitch, she wasn't sure yet. Brenna, of course, was aware of April's tactic and easily avoided the times that April flew way to close. A few times Brenna had to duck quickly to avoid being hit in the head by April's foot or broom handle and April's tricks were escalating, every time becoming a closer chance and a more violent potential injury.

Sirius, still overly concerned for Brenna's safety landed next Wood who was watching each of the Seekers closely.

"Wood, someone's going to get hurt!"

"This is Quidditch, people always get hurt."

"Not at a Trial within our own house. Keaton's going to kill someone!"

"Black, this is a competition and Keaton hasn't actually touched Templar in any way, shape or form. She's perfectly within the rules of the game."

Brenna had been unconcerned with what was happening on the ground, she was focused on dodging April's attempts to knock her to the ground while trying to find the Snitch. And as Sirius was talking to Wood, Brenna saw it. A flicker of gold by the far goal posts about a foot from the ground. She leaned forward and sped toward the small speck in the distance. Vaguely she noticed April following and Steven behind her, but neither one was going fast enough to catch the Snitch before she did.

Brenna was lying flat against her broom as she had done when she played with Cyrus back home. For the students at Hogwarts it wasn't very normal to see someone flying so fast during a trial, but Brenna was focused on only one thing, the tiny, golden snitch.

"She's seen it, look how fast she's flying and straight at the ground…Merlin, she won't be able to pull up in time." Wood commented as everyone on the pitch stopped to watch Brenna.

She was speeding quickly toward the goal posts and the ground, she had to get low enough to catch the snitch and leave enough space to pull up. But that was the thing, she didn't need much room or time at all, the only thing she needed was the Snitch closed in her hand.

She approached the far goalposts and it seemed that she would crash into the ground, the post or both. Brenna stuck out her left hand and felt the delicate wings flutter against her hand before pulling up incredibly hard. Just before the broom hit the ground, the front end that she had pulled, reared up and she pivoted 180 degrees so she was facing into the Pitch and flew towards Wood and Sirius who were standing off to the side open-mouthed. Stopping in front of them she hopped off her broom and held up her left hand, the Snitch still enclosed, for them to see.

"Here's your Snitch" She said with a small smile at the shocked looks on their face. _I guess they don't do that here…_she thought as the rest of the players landed around them.

"What were you thinking, you almost died!" Sirius said concern etched into his face and voice.

"No I didn't, I've done that tons of times with way less margin for error. Relax, I got the Snitch and I didn't crash." James appeared next to Sirius, a mirrored look of concern on his face, but after seeing that Brenna was alright he broke into a smile.

"Can I try your broom now, trials are done." James asked clearly excited. Brenna nodded handing him the broom and gave the Snitch back to Wood.

"Right, well, Trials are done, I'll post the list for the team by tomorrow morning. Well done all of you." Wood said finally recovered from the shock and taking the snitch from Brenna. James hopped on the broom and the rest of the players left the Pitch, April and her friends scowling at Brenna and shooting her glares that instantly reminded her of the old adage: if looks could kill…

Brenna and Sirius sat on the bench to the side of the Pitch as James soared into the air putting the broom through its paces.

"You know you could've really gotten hurt, right?" Sirius asked still looking concerned.

"Sirius, I'm fine really." Sirius still didn't look convinced and neither one understood why he cared so much.

"Brenna, you could've gotten yourself really badly hurt, you could've died."

"If I didn't do things because I _could _get hurt, I wouldn't be here right now. Sirius, listen, I'm trained really well, and you're right I could get hurt, but I'll heal, and death is a little extreme. You only learn by trying things and sometimes you get hurt. Merlin knows I crashed a thousand times before I got that right. Live and learn, you know?"

"Brenna, who the hell are you? You tell us that you need to keep everything a secret. You hint that you and your brother are involved in something huge, and now you're talking about how whatever the hell you do is dangerous and you could get hurt or die. Who are you?" Sirius said looking at her intensely; he just wanted to know what was up with her. He didn't like feeling that he couldn't help someone with something that was clearly massive.

"You know I can't tell you. And it's not just because of Cyrus, okay? It's because I can't tell you. What I do is dangerous, is that what you wanted to hear? That if I screw up, me or Cyrus will end up dead? Is that what you wanted to hear, Sirius? You can't understand and I'm not asking you to, I'm just asking you to respect the fact that I live a very complicated life that I can't tell you about." Brenna seemed to zone out a bit after she said that, staring straight ahead, her body stiff. "Bring the broom back to the tower when you're done, I've got to go."

Brenna's demeanour had changed from 'please try to understand', to 'something's up and I've got to go'. She stood up but Sirius caught her arm, for him felt like she was leaving because he had said something wrong.

"Brenna, look I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"Sirius, its fine really, I just have to go. Cyrus needs to talk to me." She said looking at the other end of the Pitch where Cyrus had just become visible standing at the end waiting for her.

"I'm guessing that's not just an epic twin connection."

"Nope, legilimency, Sirius, that's one I can tell you. Don't break my broom!" She called as she began running toward Cyrus who waited at the end of the Pitch.

James landed next to Sirius; he had seen Brenna running across the Pitch to a boy who was waiting for her. From the air, he couldn't tell who the boy was and figured he should go check with Sirius what was happening, and had been happening while he was enjoying himself flying.

"Padfoot, what'd I miss?"

"Brenna and her brother are in potential life or death situations, they know legilimency, Brenna said to bring her broom back to the tower when we're done and we can't break it. Oh, and right now she's going to see her brother."

"Wait, what?"

"Brenna could die because of whatever she's involved in, they can read people's minds, she's going to talk to her brother and we're supposed to bring the broom back to the tower." Sirius repeated emotionlessly. Then as though he was just clueing into what he was saying, his eyes widened slightly, "She could die!" He said hysterically looking at James.

"Whoa, Padfoot calm down, no one's going to die!" James grabbed hold of Sirius' shoulders to steady him.

"No, no Prongs, she said, she said that she could die and that if she screws up her brother could die. Prongs we've got to do something, we have to help. She can't die, we can't let her die." Sirius had calmed down a bit but he was determined. Sirius was just the kind of person that did everything he could to help someone once he found out that they were in any sort of trouble, whether a subject was difficult or someone's personal life was less than ideal.

"Padfoot, listen, we'll talk to her okay? She'll tell us what she can and we'll help if we can. I'm sure she knows what she's doing. You just need to relax." And just like that Sirius nodded and snapped back to his usual calm self.

"Right, yeah, I'm fine. Come on let's go, I reckon it's time for dinner."

**A/N: Review? Let me know what you love and what you hate. **


	8. A New Challenge

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews even though there were very few of them. Now back to the story. **

**Chapter 8: A New Challenge **

"Hey Brenna, we're having a kind of girls' night tonight in the dorm, did you want to join us?" Alice asked as her, Marlene and Lily came up to her that evening in the Common Room after dinner.

"We thought it'd be fun and we can get to know each other better, we don't want to pressure you or anything." Lily added clearly wanting Brenna to partake in whatever it is they did on 'girl's nights'.

"Actually we do mean to pressure you. So you're going to come okay?" Marlene added receiving a retributive look from Lily.

"Um, sure, but I've got no idea what a _girls' night _is." Alice's eyes widened and her mouth opened slightly in disbelief.

"You've never had a girls' night? Oh we are going to cram everything you do on a girls' night in. We're going to need make up and facials and nail polish, oh and total makeovers…this is going to be so much fun!" Alice squealed excitedly. "I've got to go get everything ready!" She turned and flitted happily up the stairs to the girls' dorm.

"Oh you're in for an interesting night." Marlene said shaking her head smiling and following Alice upstairs.

"Come on up when you're ready. Alice will probably be tearing the dorm apart looking for everything. I'd say you've got about 20 minutes to half an hour. You could always back out, though I reckon you'd need a detention and even then she'd just reschedule. Don't worry though it's actually fun." Lily smiled as Brenna nodded somewhat shocked at the girls' excitement.

"She can't be that bad and I guess it's the proper initiation to joining your dorm…or something like that. But don't worry, I'll be there." Lily nodded and then followed her friends to her dorm.

"You look a bit worried, is it what your brother said?" Sirius asked as he, James and Remus walked into the Common Room and stopped at the table Brenna was sitting at with textbooks strewn around her. Sirius flopped into a chair across the table from her, the other two boys stood next to the table.

"No, Alice is planning some _girls' night _thing with makeovers or something…"

"Girls' night…will there be pillow fights?" Sirius asked way to interested, Brenna looked at him disgusted and shaking her head.

"Don't ever say something like that to me again. That was just…you're so lucky the people I know didn't hear you say that…just-ugh." She shook her head at him again before acknowledging the other boys. "Hello James and you must be Remus Lupin."

"My reputation precedes me." Remus said mildly surprised. "The hazards of being a Marauder I suppose. You must be Brenna Templar then."

"Yes, the new girl who hates homework. How do you people put up with this?"

"Didn't you do homework at your old school?" Remus asked with a raised eyebrow and since the conversation had turned to Brenna's past the other boys were paying attention.

"Ehm…" _Great way to answer! Begin with 'Ehm…' now they're all suspicious and curious! _Brenna thought as she quickly thought up an answer. "No…" All three boys' eyes widened.

"You didn't have homework?" James voiced all of the boys' thoughts at that particular moment.

"Well, not like this. We didn't have essays or anything like that, but we had a lot of…practical homework." Brenna said carefully toeing the line of what she could and couldn't say.

"What do you mean practical homework?" Remus asked frowning slightly in thought.

"You know like practice…"

"You mean you got to hex and curse people for _homework_? That's all you had to do? Why on earth would you transfer?" Sirius shook his head at her as though she had just told him that she had tons of gold but she decided to throw it away.

"Not as easy as you seem to be thinking, honestly these essays might be tedious and a little bit pointless-"

"See Moony I'm not the only one that thinks essays are pointless!" Sirius said pointedly to Remus.

"-but they are a lot easier than some of the…assignments we got back home."

"What school did you go to, exactly?" Remus asked curiously.

"It was really small, hardly anyone knows of it." Brenna answered hoping they would accept her answer and not push her for a more specific answer. Thankfully, Alice came down the stairs of the girls' dorm.

"Brenna are-" Alice stopped as she took note of the Marauders around her. "-Ready to go?"

"Don't we get an invite, Prewitt?" Sirius said with a cocky grin.

"No Black you don't because you're not a girl I'm sure that might come as a shock to you." Alice replied snidely and receiving a glare from Sirius as Brenna began packing up her books.

"Prewitt could you do me a favour?" James asked suddenly.

"No Potter I'm not asking Lily to go out with you for the thousandth time and just leave her alone." James _humph_ed but didn't push his luck with the annoyed Alice.

"You really thought that she would say yes to you asking her out through Alice?" Brenna asked with raised eyebrows.

"Don't questioning the idiocy of a teenage boy, particularly Potter, Brenna, it's just bad." Alice shook her head as she took a few of Brenna's things in her arms.

"I'm not an idiot" James grumbled to a grinning Brenna and Alice.

"No of course not, you just thought that a girl would go out with a guy that asked her out through her friend, you're not an idiot at all." Brenna said with a touch of sarcasm as she and Alice left the Common Room for their dorm.

"Do you think he got the sarcasm?" Alice asked as they climbed the stairs to their dorm.

"He can't be that dumb, can he?" The two girls dissolved into a fit of laughter as they imagined an incredibly stupid and arrogant James Potter.

"And what are we laughing about, exactly?" Marlene said as her and Lily came out of the room to meet them.

"Potter being an idiot" Alice replied still giggling a bit.

"That can be amusing. Well come inside and let's talk about Potter and his idiocy." Lily groaned but followed Marlene inside.

"Do we have to always start with Potter every single time?" Lily asked as the four girls took a seat on cushions that were positioned in the center of the room in a circle.

"I guess not, anyone else got something that we can start with?" Marlene asked looking around the circle.

"Black was flirting with Brenna downstairs" Alice said part excited and part accusatory.

"Flirting huh?" Marlene asked with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

"No, not flirting" Brenna said feeling uncomfortable as all three girls looked at her.

"Really?" Lily asked joining in with a raised eyebrow.

"He wasn't flirting with you at all? The school playboy, Sirius Black?" Alice asked pointedly. "Has he gone mental, you're gorgeous!" She added causing Brenna to look away blushing slightly as the other girls nodded in agreement.

"He would have to be completely blind not just mental not to flirt with you." Marlene added knowing that it made Brenna uncomfortable to be told how beautiful she was.

"We'll just go with he was flirting. So do you fancy him?" Alice asked excitement raw in her voice, but Lily and Marlene looked a bit more hesitant.

"What- no of course not." All three girls grew gigantic, shocked smiles.

"Really? You don't fancy him? Practically every girl in this bloody school fancies him, except us, of course." Marlene said.

"That would explain his arrogance."

"So you actually don't fancy him at all?" Lily asked with raised eyebrows as she took a bite of a liquorice wand.

"I have to admit that he is attractive but beyond that…he _could _be an acquaintance, I suppose. What about you guys? Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like you don't really like him that much, or at all really, so what did he do?"

"He just flirts with everyone and he's condescending and chauvinistic-"

"-And he thinks he's Merlin's gift to Hogwarts, like it's a privilege to have him in your presence-"

"And he always belittles people; someone needs to cut him down a few notches." All three girls clearly had less than friendly attitude toward Hogwarts' King, Sirius Black.

"Fair enough…so what else do we talk about on a girls' night?"

"I think it's time for makeovers." Marlene suggested which caused Alice to squeal with excitement and jump up running over to the vanity. She returned with a basket full of cosmetics bags and supplies.

"Let's start with face masks." For the rest of the night the girls ate way too much candy, drank way too much Butterbeer and gave each other a new look, complete with transfigured hair dos.

The girls flitted around each other with brushes and curling irons and eye shadows and blush and basically every cosmetic product imaginable. Brenna assisted the other girls but didn't know much of what to do. She did wear makeup, but not much and didn't know all the different techniques or styles that they did, so she watched and helped as the girls took to teaching her about everything they were using and doing. Eventually they fell asleep still on the floor of their dorm and still in the makeup.

They woke up on Friday morning to the bright rays of sun glaring at their sleeping faces. Tiredly, they trudged around the room, dressing and redoing their hair and makeup. Eventually they deemed themselves presentable and walked down to the Common Room yawning, though Brenna seemed to be the most awake of all of them.

"I wonder if I made the Quidditch Team." Brenna said finally remembering that she was supposed to have checked the Message board in the Common Room for the list of people on this year's Gryffindor Quidditch team. Once in the Common Room she walked over to the bulletin board that hung on the wall opposite the Portrait hole.

**Gryffindor Quidditch Team**

**Keeper****: Mitchell Wood**

**Chasers:**** James Potter **

**Peter Fleming **

**David Connors**

**Beaters:**** Sirius Black **

**George O'Malley**

**Seeker:**** Brenna Templar**

**All Team members must attend mandatory practice Friday at 4pm sharp. **

**Team Captain,**** Mitchell Wood**

"Congrats Brenna, you made the team! Only girl too, quite the accomplishment." Marlene said from over her shoulder.

"Thanks, now let's get down to breakfast, I'm starving!"

The only notable thing to happen at breakfast was James asking Lily out which ended with a 'Leave me alone Potter' and Lily storming out of the Hall, the other girls following her of course. Their first class of the day was Potions which, since they were in 5th year was mixed with all the houses, and the Marauders.

As soon as they walked in they saw that a chart was on the board listing the Potions partners. Lily was paired with James, Remus with a Ravenclaw that he knew from the library, Peter was with one of April Keaton's friends from the Trials, Amanda Jones; Marlene was paired with a Ravenclaw girl, Alice was with another Gryffindor, Frank Longbottom; and Brenna was paired with Sirius. They each took the seats that were designated by the chart and waited for their partners to join them. Eventually, the Marauders strolled into class, James grinning ear to ear when he saw that his partner would be Lily and Sirius smirking as he walked over to the desk next to Brenna's.

"Hello gorgeous" He said giving her one of his famous flirtatious smiles.

"Hello Black" Brenna was simply not in the mood to argue with him.

"Oh so I'm _Black _today, what did I do to deserve that?"

"You were born, that's what you did." Brenna snapped at him. Seeing the shocked and hurt look on his face she sighed. "Sorry, I get mean when I'm tired, and I'm not even that tired today so be thankful."

"Up late last night with your girl friends?" Too bad Sirius just didn't get the fact that he shouldn't push Brenna today.

"Oh yes Sirius, we were. We were just having one big long pillow fight in lingerie." The wide eyed look on Sirius' face told Brenna that he was actually picturing the scene in his head. "Stop picturing that, pervert! It didn't happen, prick."

"Right, right, sorry" Sirius shook his head to clear the mental images away.

"Good morning class" Professor Slughorn boomed walking into class. "Welcome to Fifth year potions. This year will be much more rigorous and in depth as you will have your OWLs this year. I see that you have all obeyed the seating plan on the board. Good. Now today we will be working on a rather complicated potion that is used for blood replenishment. You will have until the end of the class to attempt to make this potion with your partners, also known as the people you are currently sitting beside. The first pair to complete this potion properly will not have to write a 3 ½ foot essay on the history and creation of the Blood Replenishment Potion. The instructions are on page 134 of your textbooks. You may now begin."

Sirius was about to grab his textbook from his bag when Brenna grabbed him by the arm and pulled him up from his seat.

"We are winning this. Now come on." Still holding his arm, she began walking to the storeroom.

"Brenna we kind of need the textbook so we know what ingredients to get."

"No we don't, I need you to help me carry the ingredients back to our desks." Sirius followed Brenna to the storeroom; every other group was still looking at the textbook trying to figure out which ingredients they needed.

Once they were in the room Brenna looked around the shelves taking out bottles and vials and handing them to Sirius. When she had gotten everything they needed they quickly went back to their desks, the other groups were only beginning to go into the store room, but they didn't know all the ingredients or their appearance like Brenna did so it took them much longer.

"Light the fire under a cauldron please." Brenna told Sirius as she began finely slicing one of the strange ingredients that Sirius had never heard of or seen.

"What is that Brenna?" Sirius asked looking at the plant that she was cutting up.

"It's Hellebore, useful for calming and is also used in the Draught of Peace. Can you cut three nettles coarsely please, fairly large pieces?"

"How do you know all of this, you haven't even looked at the book?" Brenna began adding ingredients that didn't need preparation to the cauldron including her prepared hellebore.

"Let's just say that I've made this potion before. I've had it memorized since I first started at my old school; it was kind of a must. Alright let's add the dittany in and the nettles, then we stir three times clockwise and once counter."

"It says in the book to only stir 4 times clockwise" Sirius pointed out looking up from the directions in the book.

"I know I don't know why they don't just put what you actually have to do in those bloody textbooks. Trust me, it's 3 times clockwise and 1 time counter for now." Sirius did as he was told and Brenna added the required amount of leeches as the potion changed from a murky green to a soft pink.

Professor Slughorn who had been walking around the classroom watching the students work, stopped at Brenna and Sirius' work station and peered into their cauldron.

"Why I'll be! Soft pink…impossible…Already half way done in not even 15 minutes! Impossible" Slughorn proclaimed to the class and a very shocked Sirius.

Everyone's heads turned to the back corner of the room where the notorious Marauder and the 'new girl' sat. A greasy, black haired Slytherin boy glared enviously at Brenna and Sirius, who had recovered from his initial surprise and was now smirking proudly at the boy and Lily Evans.

"My dear girl, whatever is your name?"

"Brenna Templar, sir."

"And how did you progress so quickly?" Slughorn seemed genuinely interested, though Brenna sensed some ulterior motive behind his questions. Obviously he thought-or rather knew- that Sirius was not the one that knew how to make the potion.

"A…_different_ technique, sir." She answered evasively.

"A potioneer, eh? Well you will have to join my Slug Club, I throw a dinner party every once in a while, you will have to come Miss Templar, I insist. Well continue with your potion, it seems that you will win." Without further ado, Slughorn continued on his tour of the brewing students and Sirius sniggered as soon as he left.

"Slug Club" Sirius said as he continued chortling and stirring the potion.

"Would you like to write a 3 and half foot essay?" Brenna asked with a challenging tone.

"You know you would have to write it too, right?" Sirius countered with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, but I wouldn't have to research in the _library._ I'd just have to write on prior knowledge." Sirius' eyebrows knitted together in his confusion over the mystery that was Brenna Templar, something that Brenna noticed and chose to ignore. "Alright now we add the essences and switch to stirring counter clockwise seven times and clockwise once. Why don't you measure out the ingredients and I'll take over stirring."

"Brenna how do you know so much?"

"Like I said, my old school didn't give out theoretical homework, we got practical stuff. Things we need to know and it was pretty much drilled into us."

"Are you ever going to say where you went to school?"

"I've told you not many people know about it."

"Yeah, but what's it called? Just give me a name, I'm sure Moony would know something about it, and if not we could find out."

"No, Lupin wouldn't know and no you couldn't find out…well I suppose you could technically but it would be incredibly difficult, you'd need…connections, connections that aren't easily made."

"There you go again being all cryptic! Brenna, just tell me, I won't say anything, I swear!" Sirius said adding the last of the ingredients as Brenna began folding the potion over itself.

"Oh just drop it, Black, and hand me that vile, the potion's done." Sirius obliged and Brenna poured the Blood Replenishment potion and put the stopper on the top quickly labelling it with their names. "Here take it to Slughorn and I'll clean up."

Brenna waved her wand in a complicated motion and the leftover potion and scraps of ingredients vanished as Sirius returned from Slughorn's desk.

"I'm not going to drop it by the way. I'm a Marauder, and the Marauders don't give up, we have a way of finding out things."

"That's great, but I'm still not telling you anything, and good luck with finding things out on your own. What are you going to do, ask McGonagall?"

"Maybe with a touch of Veritaserum…"

"You're full of it, you know that, Black?" Sirius shrugged giving her one of his best, most attractive half smiles that made girls go weak in the knees, but Brenna was completely unfazed. "Well I'm glad we've cleared that up. You know I think Lily and the others are right, Lupin is the most tolerable of the Marauders."

"You're words hurt me deeply, Brenna." Sirius proclaimed melodramatically, a hand clenched to his chest.

"That's kind of the point, Black. Is Potter actually asking Lily out right now?" Brenna asked as she glanced around the class and saw that James was smiling hopefully at Lily who looked completely irritated.

"Yeah…and here comes the rejection…every time. You'd think he'd move on, but no it's got to be Evans."

"They're perfect for each other." Brenna said simply as Lily all but screamed in James' face.

"You're mental, she hates him."

"That kind of hate is closer to love than one might think, Black…or at least that's what tends to happen."

"Oh really?"

"Yes, I know tons of people that started out hating each other. On a completely different note, we don't have to write an essay." Sirius nodded as Slughorn told the class to stopper their samples and hand them in before dismissing the class. "Later, Black" Brenna stood, picked up her bag and joined the other girls as they filed out of the class.

"Padfoot, how'd your potion go?" James asked as Remus and Peter joined him at the desk Sirius was standing at.

"We finished early it was done perfectly I think, Brenna did it." Sirius said shrugging.

"So you don't think you'll have to do the essay then?" Remus asked thinking that his mate wouldn't have done the essay anyway.

"No, at least she said we wouldn't. You guys looking forward to double Defence this afternoon?" The four Marauders made their way out of the classroom and toward their next classes.

Sirius and James headed to History of Magic, Peter had a free period and Remus had Arithmancy. They each went their separate ways at the staircases, Sirius not paying any attention to the girls that fluttered their lashes or smiled brightly. Instead he focused on the black haired girl that wove her way through the mass of people toward the History of Magic classroom.

"I hear next weekend is a Hogsmeade trip, you going to ask anyone?" James asked making small talk.

"I'm not sure; did you ask Evans again in Potions?" James nodded his head shrugging a shoulder. "Ah well she'll come around, Prongs." Sirius and James walked into their class, and Sirius, noticing that Brenna was sitting in the same spot by the window, felt jealousy flare within him again.

"Prongs, you up for a little investigation?"

"What d' you have in mind, Pads?"

"I reckon we should figure out what's going on with Brenna, you in?"

"I'm offended you have to ask, of course I'm in. Are we going to ask Remus? You know she'll kill us if we tell him anything about her."

"Technically we can't tell him anything about the duel that we saw, but he can help us with research and recon."

"True, I guess it's about time for the Marauders to have a new challenge."

**A/N: This is definitely not one of my favourite chapters it was mostly just filler. **

**Review if you want Sirius and James out more ;D**


	9. Constant Vigilance

**A/N: Thank you to anyone who reviewed or added this to favourites or alerts. It means a lot, Thanks. **

**Chapter 9: Constant Vigilance **

"Excuse me, do you know Brenna Templar?" A quiet first year asked Remus nervously. He sat in an arm chair reading, or rather attempting to read, as his friends played a rather noisy game of exploding snap, Peter was losing as was normal.

"Yeah, did you need her for something?"

"Professor McGonagall asked me to tell her that Professor Dumbledore wanted to see her in his office, but I don't know who or where she is and I have to go to the library for tutoring."

"I can tell her if you'd like, that way you can go to tutoring."

"Thanks so much, that'd really help." The young girl hurried out the portrait hole books in hand and Remus turned back to his friends who had once again beaten Peter at Exploding Snap.

"Have you guys seen Brenna?" Sirius and James turned towards Remus with quizzical looks; Peter either didn't hear or didn't care enough to look up from his singed fingers.

"Brenna? Why?"

"Dumbledore wants to see her in his office; a first year just told me that McGonagall told her to find Brenna."

"Skipping McGonagall and straight to the Headmaster, what d' you think she did?"

"I reckon she actually hung someone from the ceiling in the Great Hall, hopefully Malfoy."

"You guys do realise there are other reasons to be called to Dumbledore's office right?" Remus asked thinking of his own reason that he would be called down, a reason that the other Marauders knew.

"Moony, I highly doubt she has a furry little problem too, Dumbledore would've told you at least." James pointed out.

"I know, but I'm just saying there could be another reason that Dumbledore wants to see her."

"Yeah alright, we should probably find her anyway." Sirius and James stood up from the carpet they had been sitting on and looked around the Common Room.

"It doesn't take three of us to tell her Dumbledore wants to talk to her, you know, I'm perfectly capable." The two boys watched as Remus walked to a window seat where Brenna was sitting with an old leather bound book. She looked up as he approached her, a mildly curious expression on her face.

"Hey Brenna, Professor Dumbledore would like to see you in his office." A grin spread over her face. If someone had died or was injured, McGonagall or Dumbledore would've come to get her, but since it was a student this could only mean that Dumbledore had finished the preparations.

"Thanks Lupin" She moved a deep scarlet ribbon with a silver medallion hanging on the end and closed her book.

"Um, Brenna, di-did you get in any trouble?" Remus asked concern evident on her face.

"No, I don't think so…" Brenna answered slowly.

"Oh, okay, I was just wondering…"

"You mean Black wanted to know if I actually stuck someone to the ceiling." Brenna stood up holding her book and wand, though Remus didn't notice the latter.

"Yeah actually…" Remus trailed off as Brenna pointed and flicked her wand at Sirius who was talking to James. He rose into the air letting out a shriek of surprise.

"Well, I suppose I did." With another complicated twist Sirius appeared to be stuck in the air as Brenna lowered her wand. "See you later, Lupin."

"What the hell?" Sirius practically screamed to the gawking girls and chuckling boys, no one had ever seen _Sirius Black_ pinned up to a ceiling or even slightly humiliated.

"Told you I'd hang you from the ceiling didn't I?" Brenna said smirking as she left a shocked Remus and walked toward the Portrait hole.

"Alright, ha ha, point made." Sirius said glaring down from where he was floating. "You can let me down now."

"Sorry, I can't, Professor Dumbledore needs to see me. But don't worry, you're a Marauder, I'm sure you'll figure it out, and if not, the charm will wear off in a few hours and it's not _that _high of a ceiling, you'll be fine. Anyway I've got to get going." Brenna ducked out of the Portrait hole still smiling at the looks on the Gryffindors and the Marauders faces.

She walked to the statue of the stone gargoyle and gave it the password, Lemon Drops. The statue sprung to life and a spiralling staircase appeared behind a wall. Brenna stepped onto the staircase and knocked lightly on the door when she reached the top.

"Come in, ah hello Brenna thank you for joining us." Dumbledore said standing behind his desk to greet her.

"Sorry I'm late Professor, I got a little…sidetracked." Brenna took the seat next to her brother across from Dumbledore who had also sat down.

"No matter, you are here now, though I hope Mr Black finds his way back to the ground softly." Dumbledore eyes twinkled with humour and Brenna gave a small smile slightly embarrassed that he knew, but then again, the incident wasn't exactly private or hidden.

"As for the matter at hand, I have asked you here this evening because your training room is ready and I wished to show you both as soon as possible. It is important that you both continue to train and practice regularly, as Alastor would say, Constant Vigilance is of the utmost importance, especially with this war." Dumbledore paused looking at them both with piercing blue eyes that clearly conveyed the intensity and seriousness of the world they lived in.

"Now if you both would follow me, we shall proceed to the training room." Dumbledore rose from behind his desk and the twins did the same, following him to a portrait that swung open revealing a stone passage.

The passage way ended in a deserted staircase in one of the less common towers. They continued along the steps until they reached a large landing with two windows overlooking the grounds and gates to the castle. Dumbledore walked to the wall across from the windows stopping a few feet away and turning back to the twins.

"This is the entrance to your training room. It will be protected by the Fidelius Charm since it will serve as a headquarters for you both and any meetings between yourself and members of the order. You both will need to decide which of you to be Secret-Keeper and together you will need to decide who you will reveal this location to. You will also need to decide on a pass code to enter the room." Dumbledore paused allowing the twins some time to decide on which of them would be Secret-Keeper.

"It should be you" Cyrus told his sister looking into at her confident of her abilities and judgement to be Secret-Keeper. Brenna nodded in understanding, offering a small smile, happy that her brother trusted her.

"I'll be Secret-Keeper, Professor."

"Very well, step over here then and I will perform the first part of the charm, I understand that you know this charm." Brenna nodded walking closer and Dumbledore began the incantation and spell work. A trail of gold thread wound its way around Brenna and covered the wall and surrounding floor following the path Dumbledore traced with his wand.

"Now take out your wand and mimic my movements." Brenna obliged and copied Dumbledore's movements around herself. "Very good you can stop now." Brenna lowered her wand and Dumbledore finished the final stages of the charm by wrapping the golden thread around her head, heart (well her chest which is where her heart is) and wand.

The thread broke off as the spell was finished and the opening disappeared from everyone's view except Brenna's, who observed the door quickly closing, returning to the normal wall it appeared to be.

"Okay as Secret-Keeper of Templar Headquarters-I know its lame but whatever-I would like to entrust you both with its location. Was that formal enough?" Dumbledore chuckled at Brenna's introduction and Cyrus smiled at her shaking his head.

"Yes Brenna, I do believe that was formal enough. However, I think it best that, for now at least; you do not inform me of the location of the room, since I no longer know where it is. This headquarters is for you two to meet and talk, it is your sanctuary. I hope you will find everything to your liking and if not, please let either myself or Professor McGonagall know. Good evening, Brenna, Cyrus." With that Dumbledore returned down the steps of the tower leaving the two Templar's to decide what to do next.

"I'm going to set the code, okay?" Cyrus nodded and Brenna stepped forward into the protected area instantly disappearing from Cyrus' view.

She took her wand and while muttering the incantation that would set the pass code she drew a horizontal line that was three bricks long and glowed a brilliant silvery white. She connected that line with two others that ran from either end on a 45 degree angle and met 3 bricks below the first. Then Brenna drew three more lines that began at each of the points where the original lines met and proceeded towards the center where they met at a single point.

The result was a glowing, downward facing triangle with a "Y" in the center connecting the points. It was the Dragon's Eye symbol, a combination of the triangle meaning of a threat with the "Y" meaning of a choice between good and evil. It was a symbol that both Cyrus and Brenna knew well, a symbol they grew up with, one that identified them.

As Brenna finished the incantation, the glowing lines darkened into black engravings in the stone, a marker of their safe place. Then she quickly marked the boundaries of the Fidelius charm on the ground before stepping out of the protection and smiling at Cyrus.

"Welcome to Headquarters, Cyrus." Brenna gestured to the wall beside her, revealing the secret and allowing Cyrus to see and gain access.

"The dragon's eye…nice touch." He commented and the two re-entered the protected area, ready to finally go in.

Brenna raised her wand and traced the symbol on the wall. It glowed an intense bright white before the wall seemed to dissolve into an archway leading into another room. Stepping through, they saw that everything they normally used to train was there, mats and weapons and practice dummy opponents, everything. They split up to better explore their new training facilities as the wall behind them re-materialised closing the entrance.

In a small corner of the room were coffee table a couch and two arm chairs; next to it was wooden kitchen-like table with eight chairs positioned around it. There was a small fireplace and bookshelf stocked with only the most important of books. Both places seemed like they would only be used for meetings, discussions and plans.

From there the room took on a more intense aura. It was almost like a Muggle gym, where people went to work out. In various places was different equipment that would help them train for every possible circumstance they could find themselves in. The dummy opponents, however, were the best way to train. Once bewitched, they would serve as Death Eaters complete with the ability to shoot hexes, throw daggers and Muggle fight (basically punching and kicking). All the dummies would converge and work together to eliminate the person training and it was up to said person to neutralize them, either by 'killing' or hexing.

The room was perfect to keep Brenna and Cyrus prepared, after all, there was a war going on, and they were pretty much in the center.

"It's perfect for training, Bren." Cyrus said walking over to his sister who stood in the middle of the room taking everything in.

"It's missing a little decorative touch, don't you think? This is Headquarters after all. "

"What do you have in mind for our Headquarters?" A sly grin appeared on Brenna's face as she raised her wand pointing it to the center of the wall near the sitting area.

Instantly the words "_Constant Vigilance_" appeared in bold, black writing. Turning, Brenna raised her wand to the center of the opposite wall and a huge Dragon's Eye symbol appeared in the same silvery white as the entrance. Beneath the Dragon's eye the French words: _A cœur vaillant, rien impossible_ appeared, coloured the same way as the symbol above it.

"Do you mind if I add something?" Cyrus asked reading everything his sister wrote.

"Not at all"

Cyrus turned to one of the last empty walls and wrote, "_**Life is worth more than gold, but honor more than life**_" in italic gold writing.

"I think its perfect don't you, it's got pretty much all our words to live by, and I've got to get back to the Common Room, make sure Black didn't end up dead or something."

"That you do Brenna; we couldn't have you doing something as dishonourable as killing a man."

"Its not dishonourable if you ask the right people." Brenna replied to her brother's patronizing comment.

"True enough, but could you really kill someone?"

"A Cœur vaillant, rien impossible, Cyrus."

"I know Brenna, to a valiant heart nothing is impossible, but don't kill anyone." Brenna made a show of sighing exasperatedly.

"Fine, I'll go make sure he's alive, he's probably at dinner." Brenna and Cyrus left the newly opened Headquarters and headed down to the Great Hall, dinner had already started and they were both hungry. "Alright well, see you later, Cy." The twins separated, each joining their own house at the opposing tables.

**A/N: REVIEWS make Sirius and James find out more about the twins. Thanks for reading. **


	10. Butterflies

**Chapter 10: Butterflies **

_Brenna and Cyrus walked into the forest, confident yet cautious of their surroundings and position. They wore their traditional outfits from back home, full draconian armour, dragon skin boots and black cloaks with a border of scarlet, ultramarine, emerald, gold and silver thread, the hilt of a silver sword glinting on each of their hips. Evidently, 'back home' wasn't extremely far away but the culture was completely different and that was reflected in the way they dressed. They knew that the centaurs didn't take kindly to people venturing into their territory and it was only a matter of time before they made an appearance to ward them off. _

_True enough there was a stampede of hoof beats and within seconds Brenna and Cyrus were surrounded by centaurs with bows and arrows raised ready to shoot. _

_Immediately, __Brenna __and __Cyrus __bowed __low __to __the __many __centaurs __around __them, __one __hand __closed __over __a __fist __in __front __of __them, __a __gesture __of __respect._

"_We mean no harm" Cyrus said both still in their bow. There was some shuffling before one of the centaurs spoke. _

"_Rise humans, speak, what is it that you seek?" A chestnut coloured centaur with the typical black hair addressed them as he and the other centaurs lowered their weapons. _

"_We seek your permission and agreement" Brenna said watching the centaurs for reactions. Predictably they were sceptical and some more spiteful than others at the prospect of helping humans. _

"_We do not help humans; we do not set ourselves against the heavens." _

"_We know and we do not ask for your help only your accord." Cyrus responded. _

"_What then do you ask our permission and agreement for, humans?" _

"_We ask that you allow another creature refuge in the forest which you call home. We ask, respectfully, that you would also allow us to visit this creature regularly. We will not disturb the forest or yourselves, we simply wish to allow a friend to come with us to Hogwarts." Brenna spoke to the entire herd though her attention remained trained on the centaur who spoke to them. _

"_What would lead you to believe that we would grant this, human?" _

"_We trust that you are a just society and hope that through your justice and empathy you might allow our friend a place to stay hidden from the prying eyes of students yet still close to us." _

"_Which creature is that of which you speak?" _

"_A dragon, and I recognise that you may be hesitant to willingly share the forest with such a creature, but this dragon will not harm you. He will not disturb the creatures of this forest as food can be provided for him." _

"_Such creatures as dragons prefer to hunt." _

"_He may hunt in the surrounding areas, out of human view, or, with your permission, deeper in the forest." _

"_Dragons often fall victim to predatory instincts." _

"_This dragon is different, he knows justice and restraint. You have my word that this dragon will comply with the conditions of an agreement." _

"_A human's word means little when humans violate that which they swear." _

"_My word means more. My word is my honour, and my honour is worth more than my life." _

"_These are devoted words which you have spoken human, and yet you are but a free foal."_

"_I am not without commitment; my words are as faithful as my heart is constant. I speak only my loyalty." _

"_What is your name, humans?" Cyrus and Brenna understood that the centaur meant their last name, the name that they shared. _

"_Templar, the name of our forefathers." There was an audible gasp from some of the listening Centaurs at the response. _

"_Do you share your day of birth, humans?" Cyrus looked at Brenna from the corner of his eye not quite sure why this would be important. _

"_Yes we do." _

"_What are you called?" _

"_Cyrus" "Brenna" Once again a few of the centaurs took in a surprised breath. _

"_You're allegiance lies with the Order." It wasn't a question but a statement, a statement that the centaurs knew to be true judging from their outfits and the medallion that hung from their necks. It was also clear that the afore mentioned Order was not the Order of the Phoenix. "What business does your Order have with Hogwarts?" _

"_Our Order has an alliance with the Order of the Phoenix; we are here to protect the students of Hogwarts from the threats of the war." _

"_And you wish for a dragon to accompany you?" _

"_Yes" _

"_Very well, chosen ones, your dragon may take refuge in the forest and hunt in its depths all that you have asked is granted, chosen ones." _

"_Pardon my incompetence, but chosen ones?" Brenna asked blinking in surprise at the way the centaur addressed her. _

"_Yes, young ones, the prophecy written by the heavens of Templar Twins in the Order of the Dragon. Noble ends will come of their services, victories and power, noble ends equally. Her spirit is strong and powerful, chosen is she as Center as he is by South. Within her lies the parts of each governed by spirit. Within him dwells the flame surrounded by traces of the others. Chosen leaders by the heavens, the Templars, united by the dragon, the flame-bearer, the truthful one, written is it in the stars." Then one of the other centaurs spoke for the first time. _

"_We will aid you in your plight as we are bound to obey the heavens." _

"_We welcome you to the forest and to Hogwarts, chosen ones, and stay faithful to your hearts; the heavens show trials ahead, trials that must be faced together and end in either victory or death." With that the Centaurs all turned and galloped away, leaving Brenna and Cyrus shocked at the information presented to them, the prophecy, and the imminent danger that lied before them. _

Brenna woke with a start from her dream, her eyes frantically searching the darkness around her for any sign of a threat, her right hand grasping the dagger hidden beneath her pillow. Steadying her breathing, Brenna released the dagger and sat up in bed drawing back the curtains.

The sun was only just beginning to rise meaning it was around 6 in the morning. Thinking back over the dream/memory of her and Cyrus' trip into the forest and the prophecy the Centaurs shared with them Brenna climbed out of bed and rummaged through her trunk, taking out her uniform robes, trying to dispel the feeling of butterflies in her gut that hearing the prophecy again caused.

Being as early as it was, none of the other Gryffindor girls were up, so Brenna did her best to quietly walk over to the bathroom and have a shower. Due to Brenna's extensive training from her previous 'school' she barely made a sound and none of the girls even stirred in their sleep. After quickly washing her hair and scrubbing away the night and day before, Brenna dressed in her school robes that were so different from the traditional style she was used to, the style she had seen herself wearing the memory.

Grabbing her bag and books from beside her bed Brenna made her way down the stairs of the Girls' Dorm and into the Common Room where a fire was undoubtedly burning, keeping the cold drafts of the castle at bay. At such an early time, Brenna did not expect anyone else to be awake, she had always been an early riser, she was a morning person, so it came as quite a shock when she found someone sitting on the couch in front of the fire.

Hearing someone else in the Common Room, the boy on the couch turned to look at Brenna.

"'Morning" Sirius said mildly surprised to see her up so early.

"'Morning" Brenna replied walking over to sit on the couch next to him.

"You're up early." He commented noting that her hair was wet and she was dressed in her school robes, her tie loosely done up, with her books and everything.

"So are you." She replied glancing at him. Sirius, while he didn't have his books with him, was dressed in his robes, his school tie undone but still hanging around his neck.

"Yeah but I'm always up this early, you're not."

"I couldn't sleep, plus I like the early morning."

"Were you planning on going somewhere?" He asked eyeing the bag at her feet.

"Yeah, out to the grounds I'm still going to, just waiting for it to get a bit lighter out, but I suppose now's as good a time as any. Want to come?" She asked standing up.

"Um, yeah, sure why not? What's the worst that could happen?" The smile on Brenna's face dropped.

"Why would you say that? Only bad things happen when people say that!" Even though she was reprimanding him, the corners of Brenna's lips tugged upwards.

"Brenna, are you superstitious?"

"Only about that bloody saying, you know last time one of my friends said that he got burnt by a dragon."

"There're no dragons around here though."

"You don't know that, there could be a dragon in the Forest."

"There aren't any dragons in the Forbidden Forest, Brenna." Sirius said with a very patronising tone that made Brenna think: _Actually __there __is __a __dragon __in __the __Forest, __I __know __because __I __put __him __there. _But, of course, she didn't say that.

"That you know of, now let's go for a walk and you better hope that we don't come across a dragon that could mistake you for a cow." Sirius' eyebrows shot up and a grin grew on his face at her last comment.

"A cow? You think a dragon would mistake me for cow?"

"Well dragons generally eat cows and deer, but Potter seems more like a deer so you would have to be a cow, plus that would be the theory I tell reporters and the teachers." Brenna said slinging her bag over her shoulder as they began walking to the Portrait Hole.

"We'd still have to find a dragon first."

"That's actually easier than you think. And if we run into a dragon you have to be respectful okay, don't make any comments like 'bloody hell it's a bloody dragon', they don't take kindly to that sort of thing."

"If we did run into a dragon do you really think me being respectful will prevent it from eating us?"

"No one said anything about getting eaten, the dragon won't eat us, but he might burn your hair off. And being respectful works, you could ask my friends. We all were with the dragon, but Mavey was the only one to be an ass and he was the only one to get burnt."

"Your friend actually got burnt by a dragon?" Sirius said shocked that what he thought was lie sounded ridiculously true.

"Thought I was lying? I'm not, my friend really did get burnt by a dragon but he had it coming and it was mild burn, not too bad."

"That's really hard to believe you know that?"

"Yes I do, and don't say something like that if we meet a dragon either, they don't like being told that it shouldn't be possible for them to be where they are."

"How on earth do you know so much about dragons?"

"Live and learn basically, there are very few books on how to avoid conflict with dragons, mostly they're about how to train a dragon or defeat one or even taking care of them, but not how to treat them."

"You are so strange." Sirius said shaking his head as they stepped out onto the grounds.

"You just figured that out? And I thought you were smart." She said. It was not news to her that she was strange, weird, and odd or a freak, Brenna had been told many times by many people but she didn't care, in fact she liked that she wasn't like the girls that drove her completely mental, the 'normal' ones. Brenna, Cyrus and their friends back home were all different according to the 'normal' people, not their superiors but their peers, and they were all perfectly content with that, they were a better witch and wizards because of it.

"I call you strange and that's all you have to say?" Sirius looked at her with wide eyes and raised eyebrows, _how __on __earth __could __she __be __okay __with __that?_

"Yeah, you're not the first one to say that, and I like being strange, saves me the trouble of having to deal with the 'normal' people who are so bloody annoying. Plus if I wasn't strange, I probably wouldn't have the friends that I do. And I'm not so strange where I come from…well that's not entirely true but people understand better there."

"Do you consider yourself friends with anyone at Hogwarts?" Sirius was curious as to why she only ever used 'friends' to describe people that she knew 'back home'.

"Tricky question, as of right now, I wouldn't consider anyone 'friends' per say, but acquaintances, no offence, but you know absolutely nothing about me and I know nothing about you."

"Well, I love Quidditch, I'm a dog person; I have a brother and family that I hate and they hate me in return, I consider James, Remus and Peter to be my real family, I despise Pureblood fanatics and would like to be your friend. Now you know a few things about me." Brenna nodded, a half smile playing on her lips as they walked down toward the lake.

"I don't have many friends, only 4 that I really count and one of them is Cyrus; I speak 9 different languages not including English, I hate my uncle with an intense passion that my friends say scare the shit out of them, my four friends are my family, and I want Voldemort dead."

"You see we've got things in common, we both don't like the purebloods only thing, we hate our family, or members of them and our friends are our real family...You speak _ten _languages?" Sirius asked looking at Brenna with wide eyes and expression of disbelief that caused her to chuckle.

"Yes, Russian, Arabic, Romanian, French, Spanish, Japanese, Italian, Hebrew and Greek, and English of course" Seeing the look of shock on Sirius' face Brenna continued, "Languages are an amazing advantage when you travel. Cyrus speaks them too, except Japanese and Romanian; he speaks Cantonese instead. Learning languages is kind of something we do together."

"Everything you told me is so much cooler than what I told you."

"It really isn't. The only really interesting thing I told you was before about my friend and the dragon." Unconsciously they had walked over to the Forbidden Forest and now were at the edge of the trees. "Have you ever been inside?"

"Yeah for detentions a couple times and once we were idiots, me and James, and we went in. Some pretty dark things in there, really creepy too especially the centaurs."

"You had an encounter with centaurs when you were exploring with James?"

"No, no when we had detention with Hagrid, the gamekeeper."

"Oh yeah, I know Hagrid, and the centaurs aren't creepy, they're just misunderstood."

"No, they're creepy, the way they talk and everything it's just strange."

"That's probably why I don't find them creepy; they're strange, kind of like me." Sirius chuckled as they continued walking along the edge of the forest, quite far from the school, where people generally didn't walk too often. It was a rocky path with lots of holes and crumbling ground.

Hearing something in the forest next to them, Sirius turned quickly to investigate. Unfortunately, the rock he was standing on was loose and slid down the small hill when he moved causing Sirius to fall forward and collide with Brenna. The unexpected force of Sirius crashing into her sent Brenna tumbling onto the ground, her foot caught in one of the many holes that littered the ground and emitting a painful 'pop' as Sirius landed on top of her.

"Fuck, Sirius, what the hell?"

"Oh Merlin, Brenna, I am so sorry, are you okay?" Sirius asked as he pushed himself off her. Sitting up Brenna looked herself over, her eyes landing on her left foot which was sticking out at an odd angle. Sirius followed her gaze and his face blanched at the injury he caused. "Oh shit, I am so sorry."

"Its fine, it's only dislocated but I'm going to need your help to put it back."

"Put it back? You want me to put it back? Shouldn't we go to the hospital wing?"

"I don't particularly like the hospital wing and its simple you just pop it back in." Seeing that Sirius was still very hesitant she added, "Sirius, stop being a coward and just pop my ankle back in."

"I'm not a coward…"

"Your sure acting like one…Okay look, if you don't help I'm going to have to find my brother and since you seem to think that he's scarier than me, what do you think his reaction will be when he finds out you didn't help his little sister when she asked you to? Hmm, do you think that my _Slytherin_ brother will take kindly to that?" Brenna held Sirius' gaze challengingly and after a few moments he sighed accepting that she had won.

"I'm no coward. So how do I do this?"

"Alright, gently pull out and guide my foot back in." Sirius walked over to her foot and gently picked it up taking a deep breath. Brenna shut her eyes, fists and jaw clenched, preparing herself for the inevitable pain. With another sickening pop Brenna's ankle was back in place.

"Are you okay?" Sirius asked looking up with wide worried eyes.

"Yes, thank you, and you're not a coward, I know that's the biggest insult you can give a Gryffindor, I just really don't like going to the Hospital. Can you help me bandage it?" She asked producing a roll of tensor bandage from her bag.

"Do you carry that around with you?"

"People tend to injure me a lot, so I've learned to be prepared." Sirius began wrapping her ankle to keep it in place shaking his head at Brenna's explanation. "On a related note, I guess you're like my friend now that you've injured my leg. Oh yeah did I forget to tell you that all my friends have injured one of my legs at least once? Levi shattered my knee cap, Darren broke my foot and dislocated my knee, Cyrus fractured my femur and arm, and Maverick broke my leg in 3 places. It's how we all became friends."

"That is so messed up. Now let's get you to the Hospital Wing." Sirius said once he finished wrapping her ankle.

"Nuh-uh I'm _not_ going to the Hospital Wing!"

"Yes you are we have to make sure your ankle's okay."

"Its fine, see I can move it. There's no way I'm willingly going to the Hospital Wing."

"Who's the coward now?"

"I am not a coward-"

"Sure you are I mean you're scared of the Hospital Wing, buts that's okay, not everyone can be brave." Brenna glared playfully at Sirius knowing that he was using the same logic that she used.

"Fine, prick, but my ankle is fine." Grinning, Sirius offered Brenna a hand up which she rolled her eyes at. She then lied back down and did a kick-up. (You know that really cool martial arts move where you kick up in the air and flip forward and voila you're on your feet again!)

"Told you my ankle's fine." Brenna gave Sirius an adorable challenging smirk as she picked up her bag. "Now lets go to your precious Hospital Wing and then to Breakfast, Sirius."

"Hey, you used my first name!"

"Well we are friends now, come on, I'll race you to the Castle." Brenna took off running, laughing as she looked over her shoulder at him.

"Be careful, Brenna, you just dislocated your ankle!" He called running after her though his comment only made her run faster and laugh harder, a sound that caused butterflies to erupt in Sirius' stomach. _What __the __fuck? __Butterflies? __That__'__s __never __happened __before! __Why__'__s __it __happening __now? __Bloody __hell, __I__'__m __turning __into __a __sap__…__Bloody __fucking __Butterflies!_


	11. Good Intuition

**Chapter 11: Good Intuition**

Brenna ran full speed up the grounds toward the castle. Completely aware that Sirius was pretty far behind, she slowed her pace to an eventual stop on top of a hill waiting for her new friend. Taking deep breaths to regulate her heart rate Brenna pressed two fingers to her neck just beneath her jaw line, checking her pulse to make sure that she was still in peak physical shape, feeling the rapid beats for a few seconds until they slowed to the normal resting heart rate. Panting Sirius ran up to her stopping and bending over his hands resting on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"Alright there, Black?" She asked chuckling slightly as Sirius returned to a standing position trying to get his breathing under control waving her off.

"Oh yeah…I'm good…damn you're fast." Once again Brenna laughed and smiled causing Sirius' stomach to flutter unexplainably.

"Yeah, well let's go to the stupid Hospital Wing…unless of course you would like to forego that completely pointless part and just go to Breakfast?" Sirius shook his head at her.

"Nice try, Templar, you're not getting out of this."

"But I'll let you and your mates sit with us…"

"And why would I want to do that?"

"Because I know for a fact that you love annoying people and denying social boundaries plus Potter will freak when he finds out you turned down a chance for him to sit with his _Lily Flower _for the Hospital Wing."

"Okay, 1 I don't like annoying Evans enough to compromise my chance of seeing you squirm in the Hospital Wing and 2 you could never make that happen."

"Sirius Black, how could you take pleasure from seeing one of your friends in an uncomfortable situation?" She said with mock outrage. "And for your information I don't squirm…I merely don't like Hospitals, there's no point in going if you don't have to. So if you're going to make me go let's get this over with before I change my mind and decide lighting your socks on fire is a much more appealing option."

"The things you say are really quite morbid…and creepy." He said looking at her warily. Brenna just rolled her eyes.

"You don't get it, but my _friends_ would, there's a story behind pretty much everything 'morbid' I say." She said using air quotes for emphasis as the two began walking up to the Hospital Wing.

"There's a story behind you lighting someone's socks on fire?" Sirius asked raising a sceptical eyebrow.

"Well not me, but Cyrus. He really didn't want to go to this place in the town by our house, but one of our friends was pressuring him a lot, so Cy _accidently _lit his socks on fire and we didn't go into town we went down to the river instead…don't worry we put the guy out. It was pretty funny though." Sirius just shook his head a bemused smile on his face as they rounded the final corner to the Hospital Wing.

Sirius pushed open the door a little too hard causing it to crash into a trolley that held medical supplies with a loud _bang _that caused the medi-witch to come running an exasperated look on her face as soon as she saw Sirius.

"Mister Black you can not just coming barging in here disrupting my patients! Now what happened, who's injured?" She demanded, obviously Sirius had done that before.

"Brenna dislocated her ankle." He said shrugging off her little yell.

"Oh my dear, Mister Black help her over here." She said gesturing frantically to an empty bed. Sirius offered to take Brenna's hand but she waved it off since her ankle was completely fine and walked over to the bed Sirius following.

"Madam, really I'm fine…"

"Elevate your ankle, let me see, dislocated limbs can be very painful would you like a pain potion?"

"No I'm fine really-"

"I'll be right back I'm going to get a brace for you're ankle." Madam Pomfrey scurried away to one of the cabinets near the office.

"I definitely should've lit those socks on fire." Brenna mumbled to Sirius grinned cheekily at her like a little kid who was caught in a fib. And in a few moments Madam Pomfrey returned with a brace and various other unnecessary things.

"Madam Pomfrey her ankle's already back in…"

"Back in? You popped your ankle back in?" She asked looking at Brenna with wide eyes.

"Well Sirius did-"

"Mister Black, why didn't you bring her up here? You could've seriously injured her! You are not a trained Healer, Mister Black!"

"Well I kind of forced him to, but then he forced me to come up here because he thought he did it wrong or something even though I explained that if I can run around, my ankle is fine."

"You popped your ankle back in…didn't it hurt, it's a painful process and you did it without pain potion." The healer still looked at Brenna with wide eyes, shaking her head slowly.

"Yeah, well could you just maybe tell Sirius that he was an idiot for making me come up here so I can go eat?"

"Yes of course, let's take a look." Madam Pomfrey slipped Brenna's shoe off and unwrapped her ankle gentle checking its mobility before rewrapping it and helping her with her shoe.

"Well it seems that your ankle is fine though I would advise that you take it easy for a while and Mister Black was right to insist that you come up here to get your ankle checked out. In future, please come here first, if you had not set your ankle properly you could have been very seriously injured. But for now you may go, keep your ankle wrapped at least for the next two days and do not strain yourself." Madam Pomfrey advised standing up. "And Mister Black, when you inevitably return please try not to destroy my hospital wing." She said looking at him pointedly before hurrying off to the other side of the wing.

"See I told you I was fine." Brenna said smirking slightly at him.

"Yeah well better to be safe than sorry" He said with a half smile as she hopped off the bed, careful not to 'strain' her ankle.

"Life's too short for Hospital Wings, Sirius, especially when you don't even need to go."

"There's no harm in taking care of yourself, Brenna, it's the smart thing to do."

"Yes, yes, don't take risks, blah, blah, blah. Please leave the lecturing to my brother; he's had much more practice. Well, have fun with your Marauder friends." She said as they reached the doors to the Great Hall where the majority of students were eating breakfast.

"You're not going to eat with us?"

"No, no there's something I need to do." She did as Sirius frowned in confusion.

"What?" Sirius, who was facing Brenna, didn't notice Cyrus walk up behind him, a half smile on the Slytherin's face.

"Black," He said smirking as Sirius spun around in shock. "Bit jumpy, isn't he Bren?" Sirius scowled at the Slytherin who spoke with a clearly mocking tone of voice.

"Cyrus, let's go." Brenna said with a warning tone to her voice which immediately made Cyrus drop his patronising persona. "I'll see you later Sirius." Brenna moved away from Sirius and closer to her brother signalling to both boys that she was ready to leave.

Cyrus nodded but before leaving, he leaned closer to Sirius, hissing a warning to him.

"Stay away from her Black; she doesn't need your crap." Cyrus had never before looked so menacing to Sirius. His dark eyes and hair were cold and threatening and the symbolic Slytherin robes did little to quell that impression.

Without waiting for Sirius to respond, knowing that the former Black family heir would get the message, Cyrus turned from him and walked away with Brenna who gave a small smile as a good-bye. Though she didn't comment or anything of the sort, Sirius got the distinct impression that she knew what Cyrus had told him. It seemed to Sirius that Brenna was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, maybe even more capable than her slightly older brother, but she didn't object and that meant that she didn't have a problem with what Cyrus had said. Frowning at the unforeseen events that disrupted what had promised to be an exceptional morning, Sirius turned and walked over to the Gryffindor table where his fellow Marauders were eating, probably wondering where he had been.

Brenna and Cyrus walked silently out the front doors of the castle and onto the grounds. Brenna had, of course, heard her brother telling Sirius to back off, and she could've objected to it, but frankly, she didn't feel the need. Brenna knew that Cyrus trusted her to take care of herself, hell she was the best witch their age and far better than most adults, and everyone who knew who she really was didn't question that. If anyone else had been the one to imply to another person that she was incapable of handling things herself there would have been a major issue that most likely ended with some kind of pain for the offending party. But this was her big brother, and really he was helping her.

Brenna did not date. It was an undisputed fact to anyone that knew her. Her lifestyle, the constant training, the responsibility she bore and the power she held made it unfeasible and pointless. Brenna had a purpose in life, she knew what she needed to do and what she wanted to do, and nothing would get in her way. She had a duty and that came before dating boys. Not to mention the fact that pretty much all the boys (and girls) back home are intimidated by her and not one would dare ask her out for the rejection would be humiliating enough but the inevitable punishment for objectifying her was a lesson no one needed first hand.

Brenna knew that because she was a girl she was seen as weaker, just a cute little thing to look at and maybe shag. She was not taken very seriously by people (aka men) who just met her. They tended to flirt with her, make derogatory comments towards females and generally think of her as nothing more than a piece of meat. That was their biggest mistake.

Brenna was incredibly intelligent and sharp tongued. She never hesitated to say what she really thought and if someone dared toe the line of objectification she would prove to them that she was smarter, stronger and over all better than them. For her, it didn't matter if they were the Minister for Magic himself, if you put her down she'll trample you into the ground. This was something everyone learned eventually, some experienced it, some witnessed it.

Cyrus was not suggesting that Brenna needed protection; he was making sure that Sirius didn't get any idiotic ideas about Brenna and that for, Sirius' sake, he treated her with respect. He was also being the 'over protective Slytherin brother' so the blokes around Hogwarts would know to leave her alone. It was a 'go near my little sister and I'll slit your throat' kind of message that most guys would not underestimate coming from the intimidating new Slytherin.

This way, it would hopefully stop boys from asking her out or flirting with her, making Brenna's life easier as she wouldn't have to constantly reign in her temper to keep from lashing out at the perverted boys in the school.

When Cyrus and Brenna had walked far enough from the school and lingering people, they stopped, satisfied by the amount of privacy.

"So does ickle Brenna finally have a crush?" Cyrus taunted playfully.

"Cy, if you know what's good for you, you'll make the health conscious choice and shut up. Besides, Sirius is a friend-sort of. He dislocated my ankle this morning." Brenna said casually as Cyrus snorted at the report.

"Mavey'll be pleased his record's still intact, though I'm sure you'll not hear the end of how you're replacing Atomos." Cyrus said making reference to their unit (and group of friends) from back home.

"Oh please, Atomos is Atomos for a reason; we're together till the end. That would be why we use the Greek word for 'indivisible', something you know very well. Now what's going on?" Cyrus nodded; this was classic Brenna, all business.

"The first Hogsmeade trip is coming up in a week or so and from what I gather some of the Slytherins are getting a bit more aggressive and antsy especially with those Gryffindors, the Marauders. It seems that something might be coming up, Bren. I don't know what, not yet, but the more vocal Slytherins, like Malfoy and the Blacks, are just itching to pull something on a Muggle born, and you can bet it'll be dangerous. They're getting tired of the Marauders showing them up so they should probably take a little break from pranking them or some Muggle-borns are going to end up at Mungo's." He reported accustomed to the lack of emotion and response on Brenna's face as she contemplated their next course of action and potential targets.

"I doubt they'll listen without knowing why and who we really are. You know, Potter's like in love with a Muggle born Gryffindor, Lily Evans, the Slytherins might target her if this about the Marauders, if it's about showing support for Voldemort though, we've got a lot more to worry about."

"Yeah, well, they don't trust very easily, with good reason I suppose, so I'll have to curse a few Muggle borns and Gryffindors then hopefully we'll get a bit more information. They actually don't talk about Voldemort but it's clear that they support him. You're staying close to the Gryffindors, alright?"

"Very trusting group, nice enough, though sometimes they're a bit naïve and oblivious to the war. The Marauders, I'd have to say, are the most anti-Voldemort and anti-Slytherin. Potter and Black are pure bloods and blood traitors of course, the other two, Pettigrew and Lupin are half though I haven't met Pettigrew yet. Of all the Gryffindors, they've got the best intuition. Black and Potter know there's something I'm not telling them and I quote 'they're not going to drop it'. They're actually not bad duellers for their age and are all quite gifted with magic, except Pettigrew, he's just a disaster. Black, Potter and Lupin might end up being our allies here if it comes to that." Cyrus nodded his head taking in the information that his twin had told him.

"We should head back in to breakfast, classes will be starting soon." Cyrus said as the two began to walk back toward the castle, both very aware of the students that were watching them, something that seemed to happen often. It was almost as though people thought that watching the new kids was just as fascinating as watching a Quidditch Match. As they neared the doors to the castle Cyrus whispered to Brenna. "I'll keep you updated, Bren. Write to the others would you; I sent Vulcan to get some stuff from them and he's not back yet."

"Alright, I'll send Nirvana and tell the guys to send Vulcan back. You really should keep a better watch on your owl, Cy." Brenna said bemusement plain in her voice.

"Yeah well I've got to get going, see you later Brenna."

"Bye, Cyrus." Brenna replied shaking her head at her brother as he walked off toward the Slytherin table in the Great Hall.


	12. Read Between the Lines

**Chapter 12: Read between the Lines**

"Oi, Brenna, Quidditch practice tonight at 4." James called as she walked past the Marauders minus Peter who were sitting on 'their' couch on Friday afternoon.

"Yeah, I know, I'll be there…Can I borrow your owl?" All three boys turned to look at her puzzled by the seemingly random request.

"My owl?" James repeated eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Yeah, you know, to send a letter."

"Don't you have an owl?" Sirius asked pretty sure that someone with the newest and most expensive broom on the market would have an owl.

"Well, kind of, but Cyrus borrowed her."

"Doesn't he have an owl?" James asked. The two boys often shared the same thought lines leading many to believe that they really are biological brothers that were separated at birth.

"His isn't around."

"So why don't you use a school owl?"

"They're not fast enough. Look, are you going to lend me your owl or not?"

"Why mine? Why not McKinnon's or Prewitt's?"

"They're not as fast as yours. You know what, just forget it." She said frustrated at his lack of comprehension.

"No, wait you can use my owl, I presume you know which one it is since you know it's fast." A loud tapping at the common room window made the four Gryffindors turn to see a bird that was clearly not an owl with bluish black wings, black wing tips and a white underbelly with thin dark black bands. Brenna walked over and opened the window, holding her arm out as a perch for the bird before turning back to the boys.

"Turns out I'm not going to need your owl, Potter."

"What kind of bird is that?" Remus asked regarding the bird curiously.

"Peregrine Falcon, her name's Nirvana." She said as she stroked the bird's feathers. Nirvana's piercing eyes stared at the boys menacingly, though Brenna was completely unafraid of the fierce bird on her arm and it's incredibly sharp beak.

"A falcon? You can have one of those at Hogwarts?" Sirius asked unaware of the specie's allowance at the school.

"Not technically, but being a transfer student has its perks. Dumbledore was hardly going to make me and Cyrus get different birds."

"You both have Falcons? Aren't those hunting birds?" Remus asked.

"Yes they are, Remus." Brenna set Nirvana down on the back of a chair and untied the small scroll on the Falcon's leg before retying a different one. The boys' watched curious as to what could need such a fast delivery that her first choice was a Peregrine Falcon, the fastest animal in the world, faster even than a cheetah.

Brenna took the bird back to the window and stroked its head once, whispering what the boys assumed to be the location of the delivery before sticking her arm out the open window and allowing the bird flight. Within mere seconds, Nirvana was out of sight, and Brenna turned back to the boys, the scroll she had just received still held in her hand.

"I've been meaning to ask, are you guys planning a prank on the Slytherins?" The boys all looked at her with raised eyebrows; people rarely asked them what they were planning.

"That's confidential." Sirius responded thinking of her Slytherin twin and why they could possibly want to know prank plans. Brenna nodded but walked closer to them so they could talk more privately.

"Then could you not prank them, at least until after the Hogsmeade trip?"

"Brenna, if you're asking for your brother..." Brenna crouched down next to James, dropping her voice so the boys were all straining to hear.

"My brother is more than capable of taking care of himself, and trust me, I'm not asking for him. If you idiots want to prank him than you'll deal with the consequences whatever they might be. I'm asking you to not prank the Slytherins until after the Hogsmeade trip; you don't want something the Slytherins do as a result on your conscience."

"We can handle a little retaliation." James said confidently matching her low volume.

"I'm not talking about a little prank like every Gryffindor ending up transfigured into strange creatures; this will be way bigger than that and you know it. You're the ones that always say Slytherins are ruthless; do you really think that if they were humiliated they'd retaliate with an essentially harmless prank?"

"Wait what're you saying?" Remus asked confused by the implied dangers behind her words. Brenna stood up as more people flowed into the Common Room and their private setting became far too public for her liking.

"I'll see you at Quidditch." She said before walking out of the Common Room briskly.

"Does anyone else find what she just said incredibly unnerving?" Remus asked as the three Marauders stared at the closed Portrait hole where she had disappeared from their view.

"Yeah, more than usual actually." James said frowning in thought.

"What do you think she was trying to say? Why would she be asking us not to prank the Slytherins?" Sirius asked no one in particular.

"If it really was about her brother then why would she only ask us not to until Hogsmeade?" Remus pointed out.

"I reckon we should ask her at practice tonight. She was going to say more but then people came in and we know how secretive she is." James concluded. "Let's get to Transfiguration."

The boys spent their last class of the day focussing on things far from Transfiguration; each trying to piece together what Brenna could've been talking about, why she was concerned and what she hoped to gain from no Slytherin pranks until after Hogsmeade. That was another mystery, why only until Hogsmeade? What was supposed to happen there that had her worried? And what was their connection to it all? What could they possibly do to set a string of dangerous events into action?

Though they weren't concentrating on Transfiguration, not even Remus who was generally a good student, they were silent, a change in demeanour that alarmed Professor McGonagall. In the five years that she had taught them and dealt with their antics, she could not recall a single point in time where _all_ of the Marauders were silent.

She supposed she should be pleased at this change, since it would appear that they had finally grown up and decided to pay attention to a lesson, but she didn't feel pleased. In fact, the class didn't seem right without her having to stop to tell them to be quiet or giving them a detention. It just wasn't normal.

This was not the way life was supposed to be, the Marauders should not be _quiet._ McGonagall found herself wondering if she had been unknowingly transported to an alternate universe. But of course, this was a crazy notion, an _alternate universe_; she assured herself that if Minerva McGonagall had in fact been transported to an alternate universe, she would at least know.

McGonagall felt incredibly uneasy. It was as if this was a bad omen, a sign of things to come…perhaps she was in an alternate universe, Minerva had just sounded as though she were teaching divination, what a horrible thought. But still, she could not shake the feeling that something was off, there was something troubling these three Marauders, and that trouble could very well end up involving the entire school knowing those boys. Minerva definitely would not put it past them.

Though this seemed more serious, usually they would cause trouble and wreak havoc, but they never stopped joking or talking even if only amongst themselves.

Something indeed was troubling the Marauders, and as their head of house, Minerva felt a responsibility to talk to them about it, if for no other reason than the simple fact that if these boys were worried about something, there was an incredibly likely chance that there was, in fact, something to be worried about, for these boys were not ones to be scared or worried or even concerned about frivolous things.

"That is all for today class, you're homework is to write a 13 inch paper explaining today's lesson. Potter, Black and Lupin please stay behind, class dismissed."

The students quickly packed up their things, no one even wondering why the present Marauders were being held after class though they hadn't said a word through out. They were all used to the trouble caused by the popular Gryffindors and so suspected that they were being held behind in relation to another incident, in fact that was a very likely situation.

The only one who looked at McGonagall with a raised eyebrow was Brenna Templar, and the look she gave McGonagall told the older woman that this 15 year old knew something was up. She knew that this was not in relation to a prank or disturbance but rather the lack of a disturbance in the class. McGonagall also sensed that Brenna knew about whatever it was that was bothering the three teenage boys at the very least; it was also highly possible that Brenna was directly behind the change in behaviour. But then, McGonagall expected nothing less from this member of the Order of the Dragon, the girl's purpose at Hogwarts was to know about things and Minerva had been told that this girl was not, in any way, average, even for the Order of the Dragon.

Nevertheless, Brenna packed up her things with the rest of her peers, and followed Lily Evans, Alice Prewitt and Marlene McKinnon to the door. As she passed the professor's desk, however, Brenna discreetly slid a piece of parchment onto it that Minerva hadn't even realised she was holding and she thought that she probably would never have noticed it had Brenna not positioned it directly in front of where she sat. Brenna didn't even glance at McGonagall or the desk as she made the exchange which resulted in a completely common and unsuspicious circumstance of a student brushing against the desk.

With only a few students remaining in the classroom, Minerva unfolded the small piece of parchment that Brenna had slipped and read it, finding only two generic words written neatly in the center. _New Information _was all it said and Minerva instantly understood this to mean that Brenna had, well, new information to share. Waving her wand, the parchment burst into a single flame before turning to a pile of ashes which McGonagall proceeded to vanish. Looking up, she found that the last of the students were walking out the door, save for Potter, Black and Lupin who were huddled together whispering, occasionally glancing up at her, presumably wondering what they had done.

SIRIUS POV

James, Remus and I sat in transfiguration, for once in our troublemaking lives completely silent. Its not that we were listening to anything Minnie was saying, we weren't, come to think of it, I don't even know what we're supposed to be learning today, I was too nervous about Brenna's creepy message and I don't know why.

I, Sirius Black, do not get nervous about the crazy things that birds say; Merlin knows I've had to listen to some _crazy_ birds in my time here at Hogwarts. Like this one time a girl came up to me and told me that I was her saviour and without me to look at she'd claw her eyes out…it was pretty strange and honestly I never saw that girl again, I think her parents pulled her out of school, and hopefully got her some "professional" help. But even then I wasn't nervous or worried, I mean at first I was a little concerned, but the day after she left Hogwarts.

Now Minnie wants to talk to us after class. This is ridiculous! We cause a disruption and we have to stay after class. We are _completely_ silent and we have to stay after class. I'm sensing a little discrimination…

"Hey Prongs, have we pulled anything recently?" I couldn't think of anything we'd done that would warrant a stay after class from good old Minnie, and judging from the looks on James and Remus' faces they were thinking the same thing.

"I don't think so…" He answered slowly obviously wracking his brain for something we had done and forgotten about.

"Maybe, we're not in trouble for once?" Remus suggested hesitantly but clearly didn't believe it.

"Well let's go find out." James said standing and slinging his bag over his shoulder, Remus and I quickly followed suit and walked over to Minnie's desk in our usual confident manor despite our nervousness.

"You wanted to talk to us, Minnie?" I asked leaning against one of the desks in the front of the class. McGonagall fixed me with a glare at the way I addressed her but didn't say anything, I'm pretty sure she was used to it now, if not, she should learn how to adapt; it has been four years going on five.

"Yes, is everything alright with you boys?" She asked in a kinder voice than I'd ever heard and thought possible for the normally stern witch. James, Remus and I exchanged a look that clearly said _what the hell?_

"Erm, yes…?" James answered hesitantly.

"You know that if there is anything troubling you, you can always tell me, right?"

"Um, yeah…" Remus answered and I'm sure we all had the same bewildered and surprised looks on our faces; turns out we weren't in trouble.

"You were all very…quiet today, is something worrying you?" McGonagall asked obviously she was a put off from our _proper_ behaviour. That's a little ironic isn't it? The professor that's always telling us to behave more maturely is completely shocked when we sit through an entire lesson quietly and the only explanation she can fathom is that we're worried about something, which is true, but still. I guess Minnie really does like our form of entertainment.

"Nothing that I can think of, professor." James responded politely. As if we, the Marauders, would tell _McGonagall_ that something Brenna said had us entirely freaked out.

"Very well, if anything does concern you, please feel free to come and talk to me in my office. You may go now." Still slightly confused at the kindness of McGonagall's voice and the entire conversation, we walked toward the door.

I pulled open the door and stepped out, only then realising that across the hall Brenna stood leaning against the opposite wall, one foot propped up against it, and a leather-bound book open in her left hand. She glanced up at us and quickly snapped the book shut, a medallion hanging on the end of a ribbon book mark that I couldn't identify.

"Waiting for us, Brenna?" I asked flashing her a cocky half smile and receiving no reaction from her as she pushed herself off the wall and stood up straight. What the hell is wrong with this bird? Any girl in their right mind would be swooning and stuttering by now. Why doesn't she react to anything?

"No, shocker as it may be for you, I need to talk to McGonagall." She said grabbing her bag from the ground and slinging it over her shoulder before walking closer to where James, Remus and I stood in front of the door. "Are you going to move, or am I going to have to hex you?" She asked as we realised that we were standing directly in her way.

"What do you have to talk to McGonagall about?" I asked not moving from my position in front of the door.

"That really doesn't concern you, now does it?" She said tilting her head to the side as I pouted at her.

"Friends aren't supposed to have secrets." I said giving her my best puppy dog face. Still, nothing. Not even a smile! Damn it, why doesn't anything work?

"Only my very best friends know my secrets, you're not at that level." Brenna shrugged a shoulder looking at me patronizingly and I could feel the confused looks of Remus and James, I hadn't exactly gotten around to telling them that I was her friend. "Now, I've got to talk to McGonagall before Quidditch Practice and I'm running out of time to do that, so I'll see you blokes later." James, Remus and I all quickly moved out of her way, and giving us a quick smile she walked into the room shutting the door behind her.

"Want to go back to the Common Room?" I asked James and Remus, we had a half hour before practice would start and really nothing better to do. My mates shrugged and together we began walking down the corridor toward Gryffindor Tower.

"So you just forgot to tell us that you were friends with Brenna?" James asked curiosity in his voice.

"Erm, yeah, but it's not like she's told me anything useful."

"You guys are seriously going ahead with this investigation? Don't you think that maybe you shouldn't mettle in people's lives especially when they tell you not to?" Remus asked that stupid prefect badge has gone to his head, I swear.

"I think we should investigate even more when people tell us not to. It means their hiding something, Moony."

"Prongs, she _told_ you she's got a secret obviously she's hiding something! I just think that maybe we should respect that for once. You heard what she said today, she's involved in something way more than just pranks."

Remus dropped his voice to little above a whisper before continuing, "For all we know, her brother's a Death Eater, and she could even be one too. I don't think we should stick our noses in somewhere they don't belong. We don't want to end up dead with a dark mark above our bodies."

"You can't just accuse people of being a Death Eater, Moony. That's a dangerous accusation. If they are and they don't want people knowing then you're as good as dead. If they're not then you've given them the biggest insult imaginable. I highly doubt that Brenna's one of them, she hardly seems the type, and if she was don't you think she'd be in Slytherin?" James pointed out in a whisper but we were all uneasy. Remus had brought up a very good point. We don't know Brenna or her brother; we haven't been going to school with them for four years and we haven't known them since they were 11 like we have the others.

"I know Prongs, and I'm not accusing anyone, I'm just saying that we don't know, and I think we should be more careful with this. Life is dangerous now; we can't just close our eyes to the potential consequences. We just need to be more careful about everything, particularly Brenna and Cyrus." As much as I didn't want to admit it, I know Remus is right. We don't know anything about Brenna, we don't know where she came from or even who she really is, and after the way she spoke this morning I can't deny that everything's gotten a lot more dangerous.

**A/N: Review please?**


	13. Innocence

**A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a really long time (understatement, I know) but I've been really busy with school and haven't had much time at all to write. Exams are starting soon so I probably won't be able to write until they're done. But please stay with me. Back to the Story:**

**Chapter 13: Innocence **

Brenna walked into Professor McGonagall's classroom once the Marauders (or three of them, at least) had left after class and closed the door behind her.

"Hello, Brenna," McGonagall greeted looking up from the papers on her desk.

"Hello Professor, I presume you know why I'm here?"

"Yes, the note," McGonagall waved her wand and one of the chairs from the classroom was levitated to the front of the desk, she then gestured for Brenna to sit. "So, this new information…?" She trailed off uncertainly hoping that whatever it was it wasn't something horrendous. Brenna seemed to understand this though her face remained neutral.

"Cyrus has informed me that the Slytherins have become increasingly aggressive, particularly to Gryffindors, which is due to both house rivalry and aggravation from the Marauders. It is his opinion that it is only a matter of time before they pull something, most likely on a Muggleborn since it fits with the Pureblood mentality. They are getting tired of the Marauders, Gryffindor filth to them, showing them up and it is probable that unless something is done to quell the rising anger, Muggleborns will end up in Mungo's. From what I have observed, I find his assessment of the mental state of Slytherin house accurate.

"Hogwarts' security is incredibly difficult to breach as is trafficking dark objects to students once they are in the school. The school is also easily fortified with extra personnel and protective charms. Hogsmeade, however, is the weak spot in terms of security. It's large, populated, and its defence is over all negligible. There are many opportunities for students to make contact with dangerous people and objects. The perimeter will be difficult secure and monitor making our job unbelievingly difficult. That being said, nothing is impossible for us, we'll simply need more than 2 defenders especially due to the rising tension. I would recommend an increase of personnel for the Hogsmeade trip, a search of every student before and after, and keeping the Marauders from furthering the Slytherins' rage." Brenna spoke with an even voice like she was reading a notice rather than updating McGonagall on potentially criminal behaviour.

It was odd, the normalcy with which she spoke about the risks and dangers. But then, McGonagall knew that Brenna and her brother had been exposed to the war when they were young, Brenna in particular learned quickly about the dangers of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. In fact the war became reality for them when they were only 11. While most children were just beginning Hogwarts and concerned with making friends, the twins were dealing with the effects of Voldemort's hate and preparing to fight in the war.

"I can arrange with Professor Dumbledore to search students with detectors. Is it possible to increase your security numbers?" McGonagall responded after a few moments of processing the information.

"Yes, I can send a message to the rest of my Order unit but no more than the 5 of us or it will be too obvious. We like subtlety in the public eye, but having detectors are a good idea it will be a warning to the more deviant students."

"I agree, however, concerning the Marauders, I'm afraid I do not know how to control their behaviour, they do not listen. Did you have anything in mind?"

"Fear…I may have scared them a bit before class, which would be why they were so quiet, I assume that they didn't tell you after class, they seem far too…_Gryffindor._ But since they are so Gryffindor, fear won't work for long. So I would suggest severely limiting their free time by keeping them in detention until the trip." For a moment, McGonagall thought she might be joking with her second suggestion but the pure seriousness of her voice and straight face contradicted that theory.

"Detention?" McGonagall parroted receiving a nod from Brenna. "You want me to put them in detention for an entire week?" She offered Brenna raised eyebrows unsure of what to make of the suggestion.

"Yes, they've had week long detentions before have they not? It wouldn't be completely unheard of; the only thing that would be different is that the detentions would be incredibly long. No one would question it either, since they are the Marauders, and during the day I'm sure I can think of ways to keep them too busy to prank Slytherins."

"Brenna, they've not broken any rules. I can't put them in detention if they haven't done anything wrong." McGonagall pointed out.

"Minor details" Brenna answered simply. When McGonagall still looked unconvinced she continued, "Well, what if you had sufficient reason to keep them in detention? What if they came late to class or were caught out after curfew? Then, detention would be warranted." She said, her words carefully chosen to suggest that she would have a role in ensuring the Marauders got detention but not saying anything outright.

"Professor, I understand that you are hesitant about putting the Marauders in detention even though things that happen might not be their fault, but if they pull a prank because they had time to plan one and as retaliation the Slytherins are able to get a hold of some dark objects, then the entire school is vulnerable. The security of this school is my responsibility and I will not have a dead Muggleborn on my hands. I will, however, arrange for four boys to have detention. I know you're thinking that it's not fair, but this war isn't fair, Professor, and a dead student is not something I can live with."

Brenna kept eye contact with Minerva the entire time she spoke a determined and serious expression on her face. Brenna's phrasing was such that it was impossible for the older woman to see things any way but the way she did, and by the end Minerva felt reassured that Brenna had given much thought to their current situation. In fact, the reserved Professor was quite certain that Brenna and Cyrus knew exactly what they were doing; they thought things through meticulously and took note of every possible outcome, particularly bad ones.

Nodding her head, Minerva looked away from Brenna's eyes feeling as though she was a guilty student and Brenna was the professor. Minerva hadn't fathomed that the Slytherins might actually kill a student before the younger woman mentioned it. _Odd isn't it?_ Minerva thought to herself,_ that all the other 5__th__ years and even the 6__th__ years always seem like boys and girls, children really, but Brenna is a woman, an adult._

"I understand, Brenna. Do what needs to be done, I will recommend to the other staff that Potter, Black, Lupin and Pettigrew receive stricter detentions should they misbehave, and I trust that they will, since they show little respect for school rules. I will speak with Professor Dumbledore about the necessary precautions for Hogsmeade, though I do believe he wishes to speak with you and Cyrus himself. Is there anything else, Brenna?"

"Not at the moment, Professor, thank you for your co-operation." Brenna rose from her chair waving her wand once to return it to the desk McGonagall had summoned it from.

"Thank you, Brenna." Minerva said earnestly. She couldn't begin to express how grateful she was that this fifteen year old took her job so seriously. She felt calm at a moment when she was sure she would have been worried had Brenna not been at Hogwarts. And it also made her feel horrible. A fifteen-year-old girl was risking her life to protect the students and staff of Hogwarts. In what world was it moral to allow a teenager to defend adults? Though it was true Brenna had skill and power witches and wizards couldn't even dream of having, she was still young, in her youth; she should be concerned with nail polish and boyfriends, not Death Eaters and war strategies.

Brenna nodded her head once before turning and walking out of the room, heading for her Common Room to grab her trainers and broom for Quidditch Practice. Upon entering Gryffindor tower, Brenna remembered that James and Sirius still had her broom from the trials earlier in the week.

"Hey Sirius, you still have my broom right?" She asked walking over to the couch he was sitting on with James, Remus in the armchair next to them.

"Oh yeah, we left it with ours in the Gryffindor locker room, don't worry it's locked."

"Are you heading down already?" James asked looking up a Quidditch magazine that he was reading.

"Yeah I'm just going to grab my stuff."

"Alright we'll be down soon." Brenna nodded before going up the stairs to the girls' dorms and returning a few minutes later with a black gym bag.

After making her way to the Pitch, Brenna walked into the Gryffindor locker room finding that the captain, Mitchell Wood, was already there.

"You're here early." He commented tying his shoes, already dressed in shorts and a t-shirt.

"Better early than late," Brenna said setting her bag down on the bench. "So what do we do during practices?"

"Today we're just working on simple drills, nothing too difficult or new. The girls' locker rooms are just through there, we haven't had a girl on the team for two years though so I'm not sure what condition it's in or anything, its been locked and McGonagall only gave me the key to it today." Wood stood up and took a key out of his pocket and walked over to the door he had indicated as the girls' locker, Brenna following behind him.

"I guess it's safe to assume that it's never been cleaned in the past 2 years. Know any cleaning charms?" Wood asked as they both peered inside the room which was covered in about an inch of dust and tons of cobwebs.

"It's going to take a lot more than cleaning charms." Brenna pointed out the broken benches, racks and bathroom faucets, her eyes were wide and her lips parted in disbelief. Wood nodded closing and locking the door once again.

"So that's obviously not going to work."

"I'll just change in one of the shower stalls." She said disappearing behind the half-wall that separated the changing area from the showers where she chose a stall and pulled the curtain closed.

"Alright, the rest of the team should be here soon, and I apologize in advance, some of these guys are gits." Wood called just as the door opened and in walked Peter Fleming, David Connors and George O'Malley talking quite loudly. "Speak of the devil…" He muttered as soon as he saw Fleming not meaning for anyone to hear it but obviously Brenna did since he heard her laughing quietly. A couple seconds later and the door opened again revealing James Potter and Sirius Black who walked in like they owned the place.

"Oi, gits, shut up." Wood called over them and the team quieted, taking seats on the benches. "Things are going to be different this year, we've got a girl on the team and you will treat her with respect especially since she's got just as much, if not more, talent than the whole lot of you."

"Damn straight." Brenna commented with a smirk walking out from the section of the locker rooms that held the showers.

She was wearing tight black shorts that ended at her mid-thigh and showed off her long, model like legs, and a charcoal grey long sleeved top that hugged her body perfectly. Her long black hair was pulled into a high braided pony tail and she had her bag hanging on one of her shoulders as she walked over to the group of boys that were all checking her out. Sirius motioned for Brenna to sit next to him, which she did, him being the only person she really knew on the team.

"Right as I was saying, you're all on this team for a reason, and despite what people might say that reason is to win and that's what we're going to do. We've got two new players on the team, for those of you who didn't put two and two together, this Brenna Templar, our Seeker, and this is David Connors, one of our chasers. Introduce yourselves and get yourselves ready." Wood said before walking out of the locker rooms presumably to get the equipment.

"He didn't give the '_we're-here-to-win-not-have-fun-that's-what-losers-say'_ speech, strange." James commented grinning at Brenna and Sirius.

"Yeah, well I'm sure he'll make up for it; you'll get to hear it soon, I'm sure." Sirius said mimicking James' grin. Brenna smiled at the two boys, laughing softly at the boys' comments. "Come on, we're supposed to introduce you to the rest team."

The three of them stood and walked over to the other members of the team who were introducing themselves to David Connors.

"Hey, I'm George O'Malley." He wasn't much shorter than Sirius and James and he had chocolate brown short hair. He was quite good looking, nothing compared to Sirius, but still. George stuck out his hand for her to shake which she obliged.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Brenna." She said with a small smile that made George's cheeks tinge pink. "So are you a 5th year then?" She asked making polite conversation. _Cyrus would be so proud._ She thought to herself.

"Um…n-no, fourth, I, uh, play beater." George managed to stutter out, glancing at her form momentarily. Sirius and James, who had moved to introduce themselves to the other new player returned to Brenna's side. Sirius moving closer to her than was probably necessary clearly telling George to 'back off'.

"Hi, I'm, uh, David C-Connors." David had light blond-brown hair and was a couple inches shorter than George and looked a bit younger. Brenna shook his hand with the same polite smile.

"I'm Brenna. Are you a fourth year like George?" David nodded swallowing visibly obviously nervous under her gaze.

"Aw, ickle fourth years terrified of the new girl?" Peter Fleming taunted causing the two boys to flush, Brenna turned to look at the boy, annoyed. "What d' ya say? Hogsmeade next weekend, Brenna?" He asked flashing her a smile that had the complete opposite of the intended effect on her.

"Really Fleming? You think I'd go to Hogsmeade with someone who just insulted team members? Way to show loyalty." She replied scoffing and rolling her eyes, before muttering under her breath, "K chortoo, mudak" which translates from Russian to 'go to hell, asshole'. "See you lot on the Pitch." She flashed a smile before turning and walking out of the change rooms.

"Ooh, rejected." Sirius smirked at Fleming as the 5 boys stood watching the door where she had disappeared.

"Shut up, Black, like you could do any better." Sirius looked as though he were about to respond, and knowing him it would've been some ridiculous wager concerning Brenna that wouldn't have gone over well, with Brenna or her brother. Seeing this coming, James spoke up first.

"Anyone know what she said? Or better yet, what language she said it in?" The boys paused a moment each contemplating the words she had spoken.

"Sounded like Russian to me." George said with a shrug before walking back over to his things to get ready for practice, the other boys following suit.

:.:.:

After practice that, as Wood promised, was very basic and not terribly exerting at all, the boys headed back into the changing rooms while Brenna hung back a bit.

"Something bothering you, Brenna?" Wood asked as he walked up to her carrying the case of Quidditch balls.

"No, just thinking is all." She replied glancing sideways at the older boy before returning her gaze to the Hogwarts grounds.

"Oh? Did the boys treat you alright?" He asked concerned that members of the team were making the new seeker uncomfortable.

"Yes they were nice, that's not what I'm thinking about. Your team is as welcoming and understanding as can be expected from teenage boys."

"Oh, okay well, let me know if there's anything I can do for you then." Brenna nodded once and as Mitchell walked toward the changing rooms she made no move to follow, simply looking around her at the forest, castle and lake, eyes finally coming to rest on the path that led down to the school gates and Hogsmeade.

Brenna's eyes narrowed slightly as she searched the darkening night. She was feeling uneasy, and as anyone that knew her would tell you, that was not a good thing.

"Brenna, you're still out here?" Sirius' voice called as he walked over to her, James at his side. Brenna yanked her gaze from the path to look at him.

"Yeah…" She trailed off as light flooded the ground from the locker room as the door opened and the rest of the boys filed out laughing at something or other.

James wandered over to them as the others bid them goodbye and Brenna's eyes drifted again to the barely visible pathway. She didn't really notice the two of them seeming to have a silent conversation.

"Um, Brenna, what are you looking at?" James asked and immediately she snapped her attention back to them, though her senses remained heightened.

"Nothing, just thinking is all; I've got that History Essay to do still." She explained offering what appeared to be a tired smile though none of that was true at all. The two boys nodded; apparently they believed her, which no doubt came from years of practice perfected by a simple rule…but that's an explanation for another chapter.

The boys looked as though they were about to ask a question when Brenna heard the soft rustle of the grass against something, from the sound of it, a person's foot, medium-tall in height, which is reflected in the foot size, and they were close. Instantly Brenna whipped around so fast it was almost a blur, wand out and pointed toward the direction of the sound and, as it turns out, directly at Remus' chest.

His eyes widened in surprise and he raised his hands slightly, palms out. Brenna looked him over once, noting that he was the one who she had heard in the grass but not the reason that caused the uneasy feeling. Her eyes flickered to the pathway once again before lowering her wand and regarding the boy in front of her.

"Hello Remus." She moved to the side so the four of them stood in a lopsided circle, all three boys facing her. "So guys want to know what I meant this morning when I was talking about the Slytherins." It was a statement, not a question and the boys couldn't help the shock they felt at this. "You want an answer, so here it is, figure it out for yourselves."

"What?"

"That's you're answer?"

"That's all you're going to say?"

"You guys are some of the brightest students at Hogwarts, you can accomplish complex magic, you can figure this out." When the boys still looked incredulous she continued.

"I can't say anymore, you know that, just listen to what I said, you'll understand soon enough."

"Brenna, we did listen we don't know what the hell you were talking about." James answered exasperated.

"Then you heard the words, but you didn't listen. Get used to thinking for yourselves, boys, the world doesn't give clear, straight-forward answers to anything. What I told you is not confusing, you didn't even have to decipher words and meanings, you just can't grasp the implications because you're so sheltered. And I'm not sure that's a good thing. Think, you know what I was saying, you're going to have to admit it sooner or later." She looked each boy in the eye, as she spoke, her steady look filling them with a confidence they hadn't felt before. Her faith in them and praise on their abilities made them proud. Sure other people had told them that countless times, but for some reason it meant more coming from Brenna, as though she was more important and powerful than all the professors and their parents combined.

Once again her eyes drifted to the pathway this time turning her body as well. She could feel something there, watching, but after a fleeting moment, the feeling was gone as was whatever had been there.

"We should get back to the Castle," She hadn't turned from the spot she was watching while she spoke, and the three Marauders exchanged semi-nervous glances at the tone of her voice, it was like she had sensed a threat and they didn't know she had, "Just give me a minute to grab my things…You might want to keep your wands at hand." With that she sprinted to the locker rooms, leaving the boys standing together each retrieving his wand from his pocket. A few moments later Brenna returned her bag on her shoulder and her eyes searching the darkness, wand in her right hand. For some reason she gave the distinct impression that she was waiting for something to jump out at them and she was ready for a battle to ensue.

"Let's go" She said shortly, her eyes still sweeping the landscape as they silently began walking, the boys still holding their lit wands.

"Brenna, why did you tell us to get our wands out?" Remus asked as they walked up the last flight of stairs that led to Gryffindor tower, frowning as he thought about the way she seemed to expect danger.

"For protection, you should always have your wands with you and when you're in an isolated place they should be in your hands, particularly at night." She answered, her tone not mocking but patient as though she was teaching them.

"But Hogwarts is the safest place in the Wizarding World." Sirius told her as they neared the Portrait Hole. James said the password and the Fat Lady, after some grumbling opened but none made a move to enter as Brenna regarded them with a very solemn expression.

"No where's safe." She told them, her eyes holding a sadness and pain that the boys couldn't understand, not yet. They were too young, too immature, too sheltered. They didn't know the truth about the world. They didn't know the pain of the war. They were still innocent.

Without another word, Brenna turned and walked into the Common Room and toward the Girls' Dorms, leaving three very confused Marauders standing outside the Common Room, locked out by a very agitated Fat Lady.

**A/N: Please leave a review, they mean a lot :)**


	14. Friends

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed it brightens my day to read them, so notable mention to _Messer. Tonks _and _angel2u_**

**Chapter 14: Friends**

The weekend passed quickly, the fifth years mostly stuck doing homework with very little time for entertainment. But that didn't stop the incessant chatter about the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend, just one short week away. Girls twittered about where they wanted to go, what they wanted to buy and most importantly who everyone was going with. It seemed to be the only topic of conversation in the ensuing days, not homework or classes, not even things that needed to be bought at Hogsmeade, who was going with whom captured the attention of the Hogwarts population, including the infamous Marauders.

"So, Padfoot, have you decided who you're going to ask to Hogsmeade yet?" James asked as the Marauders sat on the floor of their dormitory playing Exploding Snap.

"No, I'm not even sure if I'm going to ask anyone. What about you guys, Moony, Wormtail? Don't answer Prongs; we all know who you asked." James let out an indignant _humph_ but looked at Remus and Peter expectantly.

"N-no" Peter stuttered out cheeks tinged slightly pink. The others nodded and turned to Remus who rolled his eyes.

"You all know that I'm not going to ask anyone."

"Well, why not? Moony, any girl would be thrilled to go out with you! You're a Marauder!" Sirius exclaimed and the same discussion they've had for the past two years, when Sirius and James first became interested in girls, began.

"You don't have to tell them about you furry little problem right away, just have a little fun!" James insisted at Remus' shake of his head.

What they didn't understand was that Remus didn't want to date; he didn't want to deal with his issues of lycanthropy and someone else's. He didn't want to have to lie to a girlfriend, and despite what Sirius and James said one-night stands were not alright.

"I-"

"Come on, Moony just ask a girl out, have a snog!"

"I just don't want to date anyone, okay? And no one would want to date me, so let's just drop it. I'm going down to the Common Room to do some homework." Tired of the nagging from his friends, Remus got up and grabbed his Transfiguration text from his bedside table and headed out of the room ignoring his friend's calls for him to come back.

He saw Brenna sitting at table in the corner scowling at a piece of parchment a few books scattered around the table open. After a moment's hesitation about her expression, Remus walked over to her.

"Hey Brenna, do you mind if I join you?" He asked with his customary polite smile. She paused in her furious flipping through the pages of one of the books on the table. As she recognised who it was standing in front of her, her scowl turned into pleasant smile.

"As long as you promise not to talk about the bloody Hogsmeade trip,"

"Definitely not." Brenna cleared a spot at the table glaring at the book she had been looking through as he pulled out a chair and sat down. "Having some issues with homework?" He asked a glimmer of amusement in his eyes.

"Just trying to will the damn book into submission." She said giving an exasperated sigh still glaring at the book. Remus let out a low chuckle.

"And how's that going for you?"

"Not particularly well, as it would appear." Looking up at him she grinned brightly, humour twinkling in her eyes. "I can't find this one passage that I know I read about the last battle of the goblin rebellions of 1343 for a History essay."

"Mind if I take a look?" Remus asked as she cast the books a spiteful glance.

"Be my guest," She turned the books toward him and Remus began thumbing through one. After a few moments during which Brenna idly watched the other people in the Common Room, Remus turned the book back to face her.

"Is this the one?" He asked pointing to a small paragraph in the middle of a page. Brenna bent over the book scanning the words with her eyes before taking it gratefully.

"You have a way with books, Mr Lupin." She declared as she began writing the quote into the essay earning a spout of laughter from Remus.

"Why thank you, Miss Templar. Have you the same luck?" He said in the same proper tone that she used.

"Alas I do not, this book is a curse upon me, Mr Lupin, it favours me not." There was a brief moment of silence between the two where they both simply looked at each other faces completely straight before Brenna's mouth twitched and they both burst into laughter.

Once they had composed themselves Brenna, still grinning, went back to writing the finishing few phrases on her essay and Remus sat simply smiling, his Transfiguration textbook lying forgotten on the table beside him.

"Thanks, Remus, I would never have found that bloody passage again." She said as she waited for the ink to dry and with a wave of her wand all the books she had open were closed and stacked in an orderly pile on the side of the table.

"You know non-verbal spells?" He asked eyebrows raised in surprise.

"Huh? Oh yeah, like I said we had practical homework not bloody essays." Once again she cast the parchment in front of her a distasteful look. Remus nodded in mild understanding. "So what brings a great Marauder down from the evil lair?"

"Evil lair?" He asked grinning even bigger at her choice of words.

"It's a boys' dorm isn't it?"

"Fair enough…Sirius and James were getting on my case about Hogsmeade." He explained not really sure why he was telling her about this when he had never told anyone else. For some reason it seemed like private Marauder-only information around everyone else.

"Oh, that sucks." Brenna made a face, not wanting to press him for more information unless he wanted to share; she wasn't nosy…most of the time.

"Yeah, they think I should get find a date." It was as if Remus just couldn't help himself, he just found Brenna easy to talk to, and for some reason he felt as if she would understand.

"And you don't want one?" She guessed.

"You think I'm mental for that?"

"No, well, you might be a little mental, but that would have more to do with you're exposure to insane people like Sirius and James. I'm with you though, who needs a date? Really, just go exploring, that's my idea of fun, not sitting in some tea shop that's covered in pink ruffles." Brenna explained pulling disgusted faces at the mention of ruffles. Remus smiled, she did understand.

"My sentiments exactly."

The two Gryffindors continued talking, about everything and nothing, just pointless, good conversation. Eventually, people began heading up to their various dorms and it wasn't until the other Marauders graced them with their presence (note the sarcasm) that Brenna and Remus realised how long they had been sitting there doing absolutely nothing productive.

"Moony, mate you ever coming back to the dorm?" Sirius called as the three other Marauders walked over.

"No Padfoot, Brenna and I have decided to run away together." Remus answered both him and Brenna keeping completely straight faces.

"We're leaving tonight and there's nothing you can do to stop us." Brenna continued Sirius and James appearing a little shell-shocked looked between Remus and Brenna both now wearing matching grins, their homework lying off to the side of the table.

"Obviously I'm coming back to the dorm." Remus clarified with a discreet eye roll.

"Oh, well, about before mate…"

"Okay, I'm just going to go now before you lot get all sappy and hug it out or whatever you blokes do." Brenna said standing and gathering her things quickly. "See ya later, Remus, good luck surviving until Hogsmeade."

"Yeah, see ya later, Brenna."

"Sirius, James." She said giving each a nod of acknowledgement before she proceeded up the stairs to the girls' dorms. After watching her leave, Sirius and James turned back to Remus.

"What was that all about?" Sirius asked tone mildly accusing.

"Nothing, we were just talking 'bout how people talking constantly about dates and Hogsmeade is incredibly annoying. Turns out I'm not the only odd person in Gryffindor Tower." Remus replied looking pointedly at both boys.

"Too bad, Padfoot, now you can't ask her out." James teased smirking at Sirius who simply glared in response.

"Come on you lot, let's get to bed."

The next day was more of the same, people continuously talking of Hogsmeade; it was, suffice it to say, wearing on Brenna's very limited patience. She was only managing to cope because people didn't ask about her very often and she buried herself in books and homework, always appearing busy so people wouldn't ask her about dates for Hogsmeade. Brenna was quite sure that girls here would not understand that she didn't want to date people, Remus had told her that. Thank Merlin no one had asked her, Brenna hadn't exactly figured out what she would say to them but she was certain it would not be anything close to an '_I'd love to_'.

That evening, after a very exhausting day of listening to-and pretending to care about-gossiping girls, Brenna spotted Remus on the couch in front of the Common Room fire reading a book. Smiling she walked over to him, for some reason she felt comfortable with him, he wasn't perverted or creepy or arrogant, if anything he was a bit reserved and shy, but he was easy to talk to or just sit with. Someone you can sit next to on the couch while reading a book and not have to worry about being interrupted.

"Mind if I join you, Remus?" He looked up at her somewhat startled before a smile found its way onto his face and he nodded.

"Not at all, had a long day of gossip?" He inquired knowingly as he folded the corner of his page down and closed the book.

"Oh you have no idea. How can people talk for so long about the same thing? Honestly, I don't care if Samantha McCormick is going with Ricky Henderson even though she just broke up with one of his mates, John Andrews, last week or that Adelaide Brown is going to wear a short skirt and revealing top 'cause apparently she's a slut. Who bloody cares?" Remus chuckled at her exasperated tone as she relayed just some of the day's gossip.

"I'd say I know what you mean, but I can't say I do. Blokes don't talk about that sort of thing; they just rag on you to find a girl to snog."

"Ah, Potter and Black I presume? Sucks to be you, mate, that's rough. So what're you reading?" She asked gesturing to the book in his lap.

"A Muggle novel, To Kill a Mockingbird."

"Oh that's a good one, a classic. How far are you?"

"Almost done, it's interesting how it talks about mockingbirds."

"Yeah, and that they're innocent because all they do is sing, they don't hurt anyone so it's a sin to kill them, or rather destroy innocence." Remus nodded thoughtfully.

"It relates doesn't it? To what's going on out there, I mean. It talks about the existence of good and evil, and morals and inequality and all that. That's what's really happening out there, isn't it?" He asked though they weren't really questions since he knew the answers.

"Yeah, it is kind of like what's happening now. There are people like Atticus though, people that see what's happening is wrong and are still committed to justice."

"It's bad out there. Really bad, it's not just some crazy person making noise anymore."

"It's been getting bad for a while; it's _been_ bad for a while. But still, there is good, too."

"I don't know, Brenna, those people are just…_evil_."

"Atticus understood the evil in the world but he didn't lose his faith in humanity's capacity for goodness. We should be the same."

"I think…I think that we're kind of in the stage now where we're all confronted with the evils of the world and we have to incorporate that into our understanding of everything but we can't let innocence be destroyed."

"Yeah, we can't kill any mockingbirds. We have to accept that there's good and evil in the world, and like Atticus we have to stand up for what we think is right, you know?"

"We have to defend the world's Tom Robinsons."

"Exactly, only they're Muggleborns right now not African-Americans." After a few moments of contemplative silence, Brenna spoke again, her tone much lighter than before. "Have you ever read Romeo and Juliet?"

"Of course, its one of Shakespeare's most famous."

"I'm impressed, Mr Lupin, you read that play and still have your masculinity intact." Brenna said humour in her voice.

"Yeah, well, had to see what all you girls are on about. Romeo, bloody romantic sap, has set pretty high expectations for love with you lot."

"Oh please, Romeo is a spineless, whiny bloke who doesn't know what love is. He was infatuated with Juliet, first of all, not in love. And he's a complete idiot, I mean really, he talks about how Juliet looks like she's still alive and then goes and kills himself." Remus grinned at her obvious distaste for the 'romantic' tragic hero.

"I take your not a romantic one then."

"If that's romance, then you can count me out."

Brenna and Remus continued talking about books they'd read and their opinions of characters in a much more relaxed matter. They didn't talk about the war anymore, but both had a little more respect for the other now that they had some sort of understanding about their positions on the war. They both felt like they had gained a friend, though for Brenna it was more like an ally since she rarely considered people _friends_-even Sirius wasn't really. 'Friend' was a cherished title for her.

The two remained chatting on the couch oblivious to the Marauders and various other Gryffindors watching them. At one point Sirius and James had planned on going over to join them but once they heard that the conversation revolved around books they just kept walking and sat at a table in the corner. Shortly after people began going upstairs to the dorms, even the other Marauders had gone up.

"I guess it's pretty late, huh?" Brenna asked during a lapse in their conversation, looking around the almost deserted Common Room.

"Yeah, 11:45, actually." Remus answered looking at his watch and yawning. "I'm pretty tired, should probably head up, you coming?"

"Nah you go ahead, I'm not tired yet."

"Alright, good night, Brenna." Remus said standing as he made his way to the staircase leading to the dorms.

"Good night, Remus."

Once he had disappeared from view, Brenna moved to one of the window seats overlooking the grounds. The moon shone brightly, reflecting in the Black Lake and casting a cool, yellow light on the various objects on the grounds including the Forbidden Forest where Shinya, the dragon that had accompanied Brenna to Hogwarts and lived in the forest. Shinya translated from Japanese to 'Truthful one', the title the centaurs had used to describe the dragon that 'united' the Templars and made them a force to be reckoned with.

Brenna had met Shinya when she was only 5 years old had just begun magical training with the Order of the Dragon. He was a massive Japanese Black Diamond Dragon and she was only a little girl at the time and yet she didn't feel fear but rather a sort of kinship with him immediately. She felt a connection. Everyday after her lessons she would walk up to the field where Shinya waited and the two of them would talk, yes, talk. Shinya spoke to Brenna in her mind, the first, and one of the only, to break through her mental defences.

Eventually her parents had found out and were obviously concerned with her safety-it was a dragon, after all. Her mother, being a lover of all creatures, had somehow managed to convince her father to let Brenna continue to visit Shinya seeing that he was a benevolent dragon who spoke to her with compassion and an old world wisdom, teaching her Japanese and offering her someone to talk to her problems about. Shinya was the only one Brenna really ever talked to about her feelings, afraid to be seen as a weak and frivolous girl and having issues with trusting people. She used to still talk to Cyrus and the others but not to the same in-depth extent as she did with Shinya. But, a few years ago, when this war became life for Brenna and Cyrus, Shinya became an even more crucial support for her, protecting her and sharing with her his wisdom.

Brenna had not been to see Shinya since the start of term. There had not been a moment where she could sneak away without alerting the Marauders or other students and staff, after all, very few students chose to take a stroll through the Forbidden Forest late at night and she longed for the contact and guidance of her friend whom she trusted even more than her fellow members of Atomos. Well, its not quite that Brenna didn't trust Cyrus or Maverick or Darren or Levi, she did, with her life and she would do anything for them…except tell them that she felt scared or upset or betrayed. She just couldn't open herself up to people anymore, it was a vulnerability she couldn't afford and the boys had come to accept that.

Her secrecy had gotten worse, though, since the…incident with her uncle. The boys knew not to push her; she had retreated into herself for protection. She had learned what betrayal felt like and her ability to trust people had been almost completely shattered. They loved her, the boys of Atomos, like a sister, they would do anything for her and they knew she would do anything for them; she would die for them without a second thought. But they missed the Brenna they had once known so closely, when she was younger and would actually talk to them, when she was still an innocent child if not a little naïve. They missed the way she used to sing for them at parties and tell them if there was a girl or guy giving her a hard time. They had been so close that they knew everything about each other.

Now, they could still tell what the others were thinking with a single glance but what Brenna was _feeling _that was a completely different story and unreadable. Brenna knew that it must hurt them not knowing as much about her as they used to, but she couldn't bring herself to open up, to let them in, and she was forever grateful that they just let it be. At first, of course, they had tried getting her to talk but they didn't force her, they never did, they respected her and for them, having her around still was victory enough and so they let it go.

Atomos had evolved as was necessary in this day in age and in a couple days; they were coming to Hogsmeade as security for the trip, and part of Brenna told her that it was time for her to open up, to fully let her true family in and fully be a part of Atomos again, and part of each of the other members secretly held onto a hope that Brenna would come around even all these years later. And yet neither party was really expecting any change.

Thinking back to the various (and numerous) adventures Atomos had over the years, Brenna smiled to herself taking in the Hogsmeade skyline that they could be seen in the distance. The cottage roof tops of the quaint wizarding village were just barely visible in the distance and Brenna had a feeling that Hogsmeade just wasn't ready Atomos. This was one of the best-if not the best-unit in the Order of the Dragon and was filled with teenagers (mostly boys) that had a...unusual sense of humour. Brenna chuckled a little to herself shaking her head slightly at the unsuspecting village.

_Cheers, _she thought, _to Hogsmeade, if it's still standing when we're through. _

**A/N: Fancy a review anyone? I know I do. Leave one. Thanks.**


	15. Burn After Reading

**A/N: I know I know it's been an unreasonably long amount of time. But I have an excuse. I've been working as a sort-of nanny for this 4 year old demon child, needless to say I never want to have children *insert dramatic shudder*. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Please REVIEW. **

**Also, I received a review wondering whether this was a Sirius/OC or Remus/OC fic which left me wondering _Do I want Brenna to end up with Remus, Sirius or maybe even Regulus? _And guess what answer I came up with? _I have no idea. _So my solution is to pass the decision onto you, the readers. You can vote on my profile, send a review or PM, I'm not picky just please give me an answer. If you'd like to see Brenna with someone else, wheter a different OC or otherwise feel free to let me know. Thanks. **

**Chapter 15: Burn after Reading**

James, Sirius, Peter and Remus sat huddled together on the floor of their dorm reading over the instructions for the final step in the lengthy process of becoming Animagi which they had began in second year to help their werewolf-friend, Remus. They had already figured out the animal form that they would take on once the transformation was completed before they left school the year before. That's where the nicknames came from, of course. Prongs (James) for a stag, Padfoot (Sirius) for a massive black dog, Wormtail (Peter) for a rat, and Moony (Remus) who wasn't an aspiring Animagus but a werewolf.

Unfortunately, due to the prohibition of underage magic, they were unable to complete the final step, which they had begun practicing in the last three months of school last year, during the summer. Sirius and James searched Potter Manor's library for any books that could make this last spell any easier for them and Remus looked at the books in Diagon Alley but to no avail. Of all the charms and potions and spells that they had to learn in the past few years this one was by far the hardest and the book they had been using (nicked from the Black Family library) offered the briefest and vaguest description.

Now they had resumed their attempts to practice this spell on their pillows, which they had done for each of the previous primer spells since they knew that performing this magic wrong could result in fatal consequences. The potions they had begun testing on plants even though the effects would not be quite the same as on a human. They had tested the first potion on Mrs Norris but quickly decided against that when she turned up hairless the next day and they got detention. Remus had reasoned with him that if the cat was to continue exhibiting side effects of an Animagus transformation potion one of the professors would surely catch on.

"Why does the hardest spell have the least amount of instruction? In what world does that make sense?" James exclaimed exasperatedly after yet another failed attempt at the spell during which his pillow emitted an odd blue puff of smoke.

"Maybe the point is to discourage 15 year olds from doing this since it's-what do they call it?-ILLEGAL!" Remus told them still trying to prevent them from being sent to Azkaban. Sure, it was really great to know that they'd do this for him but that didn't mean that he wanted them to go to bloody AZKABAN PRISON!

"Moony, we've been over this before," Sirius sang. "Shut up because we're doing this whether you like it or not." Remus sighed; he knew there was really no point in arguing with them, he had tried that back in second year when they concocted this plan.

"Right well let's read it again maybe we're missing something." Remus offered pulling the book toward him.

The rest of the night was filled fruitless attempts at the complicated spell and the four Marauders went to bed feeling abnormally melancholic at their repeated failure.

The next morning at breakfast, the Marauders decided that they'd sit next to the Gryffindor girls that they had become rather fond of over the years for their adamant refusal to be one of bimbo fan girls that could be found near the Marauders at pretty much any given time. James, of course, really wanted to ask Lily to Hogsmeade, again, and the others couldn't pass up the promise of amusement, even if it meant rejection for James. In Sirius' mind, James had to expect it by now. It's been what? Four years?

Lily, on the other hand, was not amused at all. As soon as she saw James making his way over, she groaned. _Would it really be too much to ask for one day-or even just a morning-without the bloody Marauders? _

"Why? Why can't we even _eat _in peace?" Alice complained as the boys neared their section of the table.

Judging from the look on her face Marlene had similar sentiments. Brenna, it seemed, was the only one of the four girls who couldn't really care less if the Marauders chose to sit beside them or not. Brenna was more concerned with when the morning post would arrive so she could get a letter from back home and maybe some news about the progression of the war even if it did have to come from the Daily Prophet, that and reading the chapter of Defence she forgot to last night.

"Hello ladies," James greeted as the boys each took a seat, Remus next to Marlene with Peter beside him and Lily next to her, and Sirius next to Brenna with James next to him and Alice next to her.

"Sod off, Potter." Lily, as was customary between the two, responded to his salutation.

"Oh come off it, Evans. We're just sitting to eat breakfast." Sirius said glancing at Brenna who had yet to acknowledge their existence.

"Well couldn't you sit to eat breakfast somewhere else? No offence Remus." Alice countered.

"Nah we rather like this area of the table."

"Yeah, it's not too far from the exit and not too far from the staff table either."

Marlene was about to say something else to the boys that surely would've continued the bickering but Remus cut her off with a good-natured question, hoping to bring some semblance of peace to breakfast.

"What're you reading, Brenna?" At the sound of her name, Brenna's head snapped up as though she hadn't realised anyone else had joined them.

"Oh the chapter of Defence I forgot to read last night. Ah screw it; it's nothing vitally important." She said closing her book and shoving it rather roughly into her bag.

"Great, fan girls, too? This morning just keeps getting even better!" Marlene said sarcasm dripping from her voice, as she eyed three girls walking in what they probably assumed was a seductive manner toward the Marauders, and who other than April Keaton was leading the gaggle. Oh yes, I did just refer to them as a group of geese.

At the comment, the girls all pulled disgusted and exasperated faces while the boys all looked interested and very slightly amused, particularly Sirius who glanced at Brenna to gage her reaction. Part of him-actually all of him- was hoping to see some jealousy, but of course there was only distaste for the approaching girls.

"Sirikins," April whined sitting on Sirius' lap, back toward Brenna, her friends taking seats a little farther down the table. "I heard you didn't have anyone to take to Hogsmeade this weekend. And that's just such a shame, so why don't we go together?" April twirled a strand of Sirius' hair around her finger obviously attempting to look seductive but, in Brenna's opinion, the entire situation was cliché and laughable.

The girls rolled their eyes more disgusted than ever before by the pathetic girl throwing herself at a guy's feet. And of course, as luck and fate and any other governing force, the girl that Sirius would want to be peeved and jealous is the one that is least disturbed by April, or at least so it would appear. Brenna merely moved over on the bench, hardly casting the two a glance.

In actuality it wasn't that Brenna didn't care, she did. She found it demeaning and insulting to have this girl show such little respect for herself. Add that to the fact that Brenna wasn't particularly fond of April Keaton already and that left you with a stoic Brenna, which-speaking from experience, here-was worse than her yelling.

"Actually April, this trip is Marauder only, sorry, love." April pouted at Sirius who once again checked Brenna's reaction only to find that she wasn't even paying attention to the conversation, instead she was looking at the ceiling where the owls were beginning to fly in delivering the morning post.

Sirius wasn't quite sure why he kept looking at her, why he cared so much about Brenna's reaction. He couldn't quite fathom how she could appear so oblivious and yet still gave off the feeling that she knew _everything_ going on around her. Sirius supposed that perhaps she just genuinely didn't care. Maybe she had a boyfriend 'back home', where ever that was. Maybe she was in love even. And perhaps everyone else here just paled in comparison to whoever that bloke was.

Sirius found himself hating the idea of a bloke being so amazing that Brenna wouldn't even look at any other guy now that she was away from him. Sirius hoped that this guy-if there even was one-was being as loyal to Brenna as she was to him, that he wasn't cheating on her, that he was a good guy.

April got off of Sirius' lap, opting instead to sit between him and Brenna trying to keep his attention from Brenna whom she had noticed him watching.

"Oh look, post's here." Alice said trying to get conversation started again since it was clear that April wasn't leaving.

"Does anyone get the Daily Prophet?" Brenna asked speaking up finally.

"Yeah, I do. Why?" Lily asked keeping her attention purposefully from the Marauders.

"Just curious, I guess, about what's going on. I hate not knowing." Brenna answered, her eyes scanning the mass of owls overhead.

An owl swooped down, landing in front of Lily who put a few coins in the pouch attached to its leg before taking the newspaper from the table in front of her and unfolding it.

"Oh Merlin," Lily gasped a horrified look on her face as she read the headline on the paper.

"What does it say?" Marlene asked as everyone in their group turned toward Lily, all equally apprehensive about the news.

"There was another attack…" Lily swallowed hard before continuing, "In Hampshire."

Marlene took the _Prophet _from Lily and began reading, "'A Muggle neighbourhood in Hampshire, England was found abandoned two nights ago, Ministry officials reported. The Dark Mark was found hovering above the scene led to an investigation by unnamed persons and the discovery of five murdered Muggle families in their homes and an additional missing Wizarding family. Mark and Laura Laurite, both age 47, and their children Daniel, 7, and Michelle, 8, were reported missing after their Hampshire home on the borders of the attacked Muggle neighbourhood was found deserted. Ministry officials have not made any statements regarding the ongoing investigation, why they did not release news of this attack earlier nor have they announced who discovered the scene.'"

"This is the fifth attack in the last three weeks." Alice said grimly as Marlene put a comforting hand on Lily's shoulder, the only one of the group of girls to be Muggleborn.

"They'll be alright, Lils. Hampshire is miles from your house." Marlene said causing Lily's expression to slightly brighten optimistically.

"So…what are you thinking about doing for Hogsmeade?" Remus asked trying to lift the weighted atmosphere

Brenna simply took a drink of pumpkin juice, her eyes tracing the path of her falcon, Nirvana, as she made her way across the Great Hall from the Slytherin table where she had just delivered a letter to Cyrus.

April let out a loud yelp and leapt back against Sirius as Nirvana landed from a steep dive in front of her. "What is that _THING_?" She questioned pointing at the sharp beak and talons. Unfortunately, April's fingers appear to have gotten too close since Nirvana lashed at it with her free foot, causing yet another high-pitched squeal. "It's evil!"

"On the contrary, you were in her personal space and therefore allowed yourself to be seen as quarry. And this thing is called a Falcon. For future reference keep your finger away from her or deal with the consequences." Brenna responded with a bored voice as she took the small scroll from Nirvana's talons.

Unrolling the scroll Brenna was greeted with a complex jumble of letters which she easily deciphered as the update she had been waiting for.

**BAR**

Hampshire attack: Delta K,-1st RSPND-, reports 5 Muggle households,-DOA-, 6 Muggle Households,-UL-, 1 Wizarding Household,-UL-.

Northern Territory: Watcher/Unit MTNG 920-2200

Southern Territory: Increase, MTNG 921-0300

West/Eastern Territories: Maintain, MTNG 922-2100

Hogsmeade Detail: Atomos, non-descript 924

ATMS RPRT 925

Brenna scanned the information grateful for the new intelligence, familiar with the shorthand it was written in. _Delta K-Order of the Dragon unit first to respond in Hampshire, the unnamed persons in the _Prophet; _DOA-dead on arrival, UL-unknown location; Territories-locations within Britain; MTNG-meeting; 920-2200: September 20 10pm; 922-2100: September 22 9pm; 921-0300: September 21 3am. _And the most critical information for Brenna _Hogsmeade Security Detail: Order of the Dragon unit-Atomos, non-descript meaning undercover, 924-September 24. ATMS-Atomos in shorthand-reports back 925-September 25. _

Basically, the Order of the Dragon higher-ups would be briefing every unit stationed in England at the above specified dates. Brenna and Cyrus would receive their briefing in Hogsmeade from the other members of Atomos since the Hogsmeade trip was strategically after all the meetings, then Atomos (minus Brenna and Cyrus) would brief the higher-ups on Hogwarts' condition. Satisfied Brenna folded the letter and put it in a safe place in her bag until she could dispose of it properly-in Order of the Dragon speak: burn after reading or BAR, the shorthand instruction that headed all classified documents.

"Letter from home, Brenna?" Remus asked amicably.

"Something like that." She said with a smile. "I think I'm going to get going. I'll see you all in class."

"I'll walk with you….if that's okay?" Remus asked politely catching Sirius' attention.

"Sure, I could do with the company." Remus stood up and the two said good-bye and walked out of the Great Hall, Sirius' eyes watching them go with resentment something the apparently ever watchful James picked up on.

"Padfoot, Wormtail, what'd you say we get going, there's something I want to talk to about. Marauder business." James said, adding the last statement to make sure April didn't follow. He didn't particularly like April Keaton, whether it was because her voice was an unparalleled degree of annoying or because he thought-or rather knew-that Sirius fancied Brenna and April simply got in the way he didn't know but the fact remained, James did not like that girl.

"Yeah sure, Prongs. See you later, April."

"Lily, Prewitt, McKinnon." James acknowledged each of the other girls before walking with Sirius and Peter out of the Hall. Once they were into the corridor and could talk in relative privacy Sirius turned to James.

"What's up, Prongsie?"

"What're you doing with Keaton?"

"What d' you mean?"

"I mean, if you fancy Brenna, why are you bothering with Keaton?"

"Who said I fancy Brenna? I don't. She's not my type." Sirius answered a little too quickly.

"Quit lying, Sirius, I'm your best mate I can read you like a bloody book."

"I was under the impression you don't read books." Sirius muttered.

"Sirius if you want Brenna, don't screw it up. She's not like the other girls here, you know that. She won't play your game."

"Who the hell said I wanted Brenna? I don't! She's a FREAK! Why the hell would _I _want _her_?" And as they turned the corner, Sirius saw the absolute last person he would want to hear that.

:.:.:

Brenna and Remus walked along the corridors toward their Transfiguration classroom in a comfortable silence.

"Remus, can I ask you something?" Brenna said a contemplative expression on her face.

"You just did." He said with a smile. "Go ahead."

"Alright, well it's going to be an odd question, and probably really random, but…I'd just like your opinion if that's alright?" She paused taking in Remus' expression.

"With a lead in like that I can't possibly resist."

"I was reading a book on magical creatures, you see, and well, I was just thinking about it…what's your opinion on werewolves?" Remus visibly stiffened and blanched.

"Wh-What?" Remus asked sounding choked as he swallowed hard.

"I was wondering what your opinion was on werewolves. You see I was reading this book and it described them as horribly dark creatures, but the thing is, I don't agree." Once again Brenna glanced at Remus' face smiling inwardly at the expression of relief, shock and disbelief. "I know a werewolf-or rather knew-and he was a great man."

Remus had recovered enough from his initial horror and then surprise to listen intently to what Brenna was saying and his curiosity peaked at the mention of a werewolf. "_Knew_?" He asked before he could think better and remind himself that it was not his place to ask.

"Yeah, he died in the war actually, fighting the Death Eaters."

"Oh I'm sorry." Remus looked down ashamed that he had been callous enough to ask, feeling even guiltier when he caught sight of Brenna's eyes which were swirling with emotion.

"Don't be, he died fighting for what he believed in, that's noble, don't you think? I think he proved that not all werewolves can possibly be bad. That's like saying all Marauders are egotistical misogynists, which you're not. I was just asking because I was wondering why so many people hear werewolf and think evil monster."

"Well….I think people fear what they don't understand." Remus answered.

"Oh I'm sure they do, but when the textbooks say the exact same thing…It must be horrible for werewolves, you know. Trying to be good, to live noble lives and having to live in fear that someone will find out and throw a rock through their window.

"I remember Andros, that was the werewolf I knew, he always said told me that life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass it's about learning to dance in the rain. He said that he wasn't a good traditional dancer; something about two left feet, but that didn't matter because even the ballerinas and ballroom professionals were taking lessons from him about dancing in the rain. Andros used to say that his life had been a great storm so it's a good thing he got over his fear of thunder. If he were a cartoon he would have a smile on his face, a rain cloud above his head and he'd be dancing the Tarantellegra." Brenna said with a chuckle at the memory.

"Sounds like a great guy." Remus said with a faint smile.

"He was." Brenna said as they stopped just around a corner a few feet from the classroom door.

In the brief silence, the two Gryffindors heard voices a little further down the corridor they had just turned off of, voices that were distinctly familiar.

"Is that Sirius? And James?" Brenna asked tilting her head so she could hear what they were saying.

"Yeah…and from the sounds of it, something must've happened." Remus concurred also listening to the raised voice of Sirius and the decidedly lower one of James. Remus and Brenna couldn't hear what was being said until Sirius' disembodied voice exploded.

"Who the hell said I wanted Brenna? I don't! She's a FREAK! Why the hell would _I _want _her_?"

Remus' jaw dropped open, his eyes widening in a combination of surprise and outrage as he looked at Brenna whose face was a perfect mask, giving nothing away. A half second later Sirius, James and Peter rounded the corner coming face to face with the girl in question and Remus. For a moment everyone just stood frozen with expressions of surprise and, in Sirius' case, horror, except Brenna who remained stoic before her face seemed to melt before their eyes as her expression became diplomatic with the faint trace of a smile.

"Well this is sufficiently awkward. I'm just going to go. And Black, I did warn you that I wasn't normal now didn't I? I hate to say it, but I told you so." She said smirking at the stunned looks she received from the Marauders as she turned and walked toward the classroom door laughing inwardly as she thought about the last time someone had called her a freak, it had been back home and Atomos had a field day with those people.

They had shown just how freaky they could truly be and their act had told people to _never_, _ever_ mess with any member of Atomos. The members of Atomos were freaks by "normal" standards because of the power and spells they could master at such young ages, that and their uncanny ability to laugh at insults meant to demean and talk about things with unprecedented ease. They were actors, the whole lot of them, able to mask their feelings behind believable attitudes and responses. Atomos had a flair for the dramatic and Merlin did they enjoy themselves.

The Marauders watched Brenna's retreating back still stunned, dazed by the unexpected response and the way she acted. Now, as Brenna entered the classroom out of view, the boys seemed to come back to themselves.

"What the hell was that?" Remus asked Sirius glaring with an intensity that the other Marauders had never really seen.

"I-I…" Sirius still stared blankly ahead, where moments ago Brenna had stood and heard everything.

"You know she's actually a nice girl, why the hell would you insult her like that? Do you know what she was saying to me on the way here? She was talking about werewolves!" Remus said in a harsh whisper. The three boys' eyes widened in horror, even Peter grasped the gravity of the statement…for once in his life.

"She was talking about werewolves and how she doesn't think they're bad, how she knew one that was actually fighting against the Death Eaters. She was saying how she actually like werewolves, thinks they're brave."

"So she doesn't know about your furry little problem?" James asked still worried about his mate.

"I don't know, I think she probably does but she didn't say anything. The point is, she might be a bit odd but she's actually a really nice, decent girl. And where the hell do you get off saying something like that?"

"I-I didn't mean…Prongs was-I mean…I didn't…She shouldn't have been there."

"Yeah, well, for your sake, mate, I hope you didn't actually fancy her." James said shaking his head.

Sirius bit his lip and stared at his feet. He hadn't meant what he said. Not at all. He just wanted James to get off his back. The thing was Sirius didn't know if he fancied Brenna, and if he did, he wasn't ready to do anything about it. _Besides, _he told himself, _I think Moony fancies her, and maybe she fancies him too…Oh Merlin, I really screwed this up. _

"Let's just get to class." He muttered the jovial demeanour he had begun this morning with was gone now leaving a forlorn and troubled air in its wake as the four Marauders walked the last few feet into their transfiguration classroom.

"Padfoot, if you want, there's always Hogsmeade, you can try talking to her there. Just give her some space now and figure out what you're going to say." James advised quietly before stepping over the threshold and walked to his usual seat at the back of the class, ruffling up his hair as he walked past Lily who was sitting near the front. He looked around for Brenna, since Lily was sitting with Marlene and Alice was with Frank, only to find that she was sitting beside a Slytherin, and not just any Slytherin either. No, Brenna was sitting beside none other than Regulus Black. _I gotta admire her audacity, of all the Slytherins she could sit with; she chooses the one that'll piss Sirius off the most. Great. Now I'll get to listen to him ranting tonight about how she's a traitor and how Regulus is an evil prick. Joy. _

Sirius walked in a moment after James, his eyes searching for Brenna in the classroom finally finding her in the second last row, in a seat that usually remained empty, and next to his brother. His face visibly hardened as he passed them, Regulus had leaned over to say something quietly in Brenna's ear as she unpacked her things, something that caused her to chuckle quietly shaking her head before she turned to him with a small smile and responded. Clenching his teeth Sirius took his seat next to James, angrily taking out parchment, quill and ink well, which he slammed unnecessarily hard on the desk, his eyes still trained on Brenna and Regulus.

James cast a wary look at Sirius wondering why he didn't make Peter sit with Sirius instead when he first saw that Brenna was sitting with Regulus. Why did she have to sit his brother? Couldn't she have just sat with some random person? Of course, James knew that it wasn't Brenna's fault any of this happened. It was Sirius' big mouth and pride. She didn't have anywhere else to sit; the extra desk that was normally in the classroom was mysteriously missing leaving only the one next to Regulus for her to take-other than the ones at the back that the Marauders sat in.

As McGonagall strode into the room and began the lesson, the class started taking notes, Brenna, Regulus and-surprisingly-all the Marauders included. Once again Regulus whispered something softly to Brenna who glanced at him out of the corner of her eye still writing notes; he continued whispering something to her which caused her to pause in her writing turning her face slightly towards him a curious expression on her face. And then it happened. Regulus slowly reached forward, toward Brenna, the motion seemingly in slow motion, as his hand extended and brushed aside a strand of her hair whispering something as he did so. Laughing quietly she turned her head back to the front looking away.

Beside him, James heard something snap. Turning his head, James saw Sirius shaking with rage his quill broken in half in his right hand as he looked at the exchange between Regulus and Brenna. James fished in his bag for another quill and slid it across the desk silently to Sirius, prying the broken pieces out of his hand.

_Sirius, mate, you just found out what I've been going through the past four years. Thank Merlin I'm an only child._ James thought as Sirius did his best to continue taking notes though his hand was still shaking slightly. Neither one said anything to each other they simply returned their attention to the lesson.

**A/N: Thanks for reading, please don't forget to vote, review or PM. Options are Brenna/Regulus, Brenna/Sirius, Brenna/Remus, or Brenna/Other(Please Specify). **


	16. Lady Luck

**A/N: Sorry for the extremely late update. I've had a bit of writer's block. I had planned on introducing Atomos this chapter but like I said, writer's block, so you're going to have to wait for the next chapter. Please **REVIEW **and save me from the dreaded writer's block. I NEED INSPIRATION. **

**Chapter 16: Lady Luck**

Sirius was still freaking out over what happened with Brenna. He had never had to apologize to a girl before, mostly because he'd never really cared about a girl before. Now it was the night before the Hogsmeade trip and Sirius was sitting in the Common Room a couple hours before curfew trying to figure out what the hell he was going to say. He hadn't spoken to Brenna since what will be known forever as: _The Incident_ (cue dramatic music). To say that Sirius had been avoiding Brenna wouldn't be entirely accurate, for he still saw her in classes and at meals but neither one made an effort to speak to the other.

The oddest thing about all this was that Brenna didn't seem upset in the slightest. She still spoke pleasantly to the other Marauders though she always kept distance between herself and Sirius, though it seemed she did that more out of a courtesy for _him _than because she was uncomfortable in anyway. James hadn't probed Sirius anymore about Brenna. In fact, the Marauders had dropped The Incident all together, no one spoke of it, no one hinted at it, and no one even talked about Brenna in front of Sirius.

Sirius was baffled. He had expected her to yell or hex, since she didn't really seem like the cry and run type, but instead she just walked calmly away smirking…almost _laughing. _Now that was odd. How was he supposed to apologize when she didn't even seem affected by it? Maybe she wasn't affected by it. Maybe she didn't care at all. Maybe…maybe she didn't want to hang out with him. Maybe she didn't show any form of offence because she had secretly wanted to stop being friends with him. Maybe-

"Padfoot!" James' voice snapped Sirius out of his rambling thoughts. "Jeez, mate, I've been trying to get your attention for like three minutes. What the hell's going on up there?"

"Just thinking," Sirius said shaking his head to clear away the nagging 'maybes'.

James gasped melodramatically throwing himself on the couch next to Sirius, "But, you'll hurt yourself!"

"Oh shut up." Sirius rolled his eyes still preoccupied by the Hogsmeade trip tomorrow…and Brenna.

"So what're you thinking about that's got you so concerned?" James asked sitting up like a normal person…_normal_ in a very broad understanding of the term, James just doesn't fit completely in the definition.

Sirius contemplated whether or not he should lie. But really, what was the big deal? Why didn't he want to admit that he was thinking about how to apologize to Brenna? Sighing and running a hand through his hair, a habit consequential of being mates with James, Sirius decided that there was really no use in attempting to lie, James could apparently see right through him when it concerned Brenna. _Wait, is that it? Am I too obvious and freaked her out? Or…or does she have a boyfriend wherever she came from and doesn't want to be around me because maybe…maybe she's in love with him? _For some reason Sirius felt a strange sort of..._panic_ at that thought.

"Oi Pads, you gonna answer or just stare into space?" James said observing him with a mildly amused expression and a raised eyebrow.

"Huh? Oh yeah sorry…Can I ask you something?"

James was slightly caught off guard by the seriousness in his best mate's voice. In all his years he'd known Sirius, James had never seen him so…_serious_.

"Yeah, of course, what's up?" Sirius paused for a moment, suddenly very interested in the couch cushion.

"How do I apologize to Brenna?" He asked looking up at James somewhat nervously. "I mean, she wasn't even mad. Why?"

"Well, I think she might be, Pads. She hasn't spoken to you since the, er…Incident."

"Yeah but she still talks to you lot, and sits near us, she just doesn't come to close to me."

"Still, just say you're sorry for offending her and that you didn't mean it…you _didn't _mean it, right?"

"No…I don't think so…I don't know. I don't exactly _mind _her or anything. But I don't know-" Sirius broke off as Brenna came down the stairs from her dorm and into the Common Room.

"Hey James have you seen Remus?" Brenna seemed oblivious to Sirius sitting on the couch next to James as she smiled at the latter.

"Er…not for a while, why?" Brenna frowned slightly at his answer, apparently she wasn't pleased. _Maybe she's got a thing for Remus. She's just __**so **__upset to be away from him. _Sirius thought bitterly as he tried to force his eyes away, fearing that he was staring at her too conspicuously.

"No reason really, just wanted to ask him something but its nothing vitally important…I'll see you later, then." Brenna said before walking out of the portrait hole, Sirius' eyes following her.

She had been wearing a grey knit cardigan with a black tank top underneath and dark blue skinny jeans. The entire outfit hugged her body, not outrageously tight where it left nothing to the imagination, but tastefully highlighting her faint curves and thin frame. The jeans made her legs seem to go on forever. Her shiny black hair was left down, draping her back like a sheet of expensive dark satin. Sirius found himself thinking how he'd love to run his hands through it, to just touch her, but that was virtually impossible now, they weren't even talking.

"Mate, I think you should just tell her the truth. Tell her that you don't think she's a freak and that you want to be her friend…or more. You've got to tell her. If you want to start talking to her and be her friend again you've got to tell her." James said as Sirius turned to face him. "And you know there's no rule against you telling her today."

Sirius just sat there for a moment staring blankly at James as the words sank in. "Thanks, Prongs." He said getting up from the couch with a determined expression and heading for the portrait hole.

"No problem, now go get her." Sirius paused in his walking to look back at James.

"Mate, I'm only apologizing, so it doesn't apply and that was really cliché."

"Right, sorry." James said barely suppressing a grin.

Sirius walked into the corridor and realised that he really had no idea where to look for Brenna. She wasn't predictable like Remus who's almost always in the library when unaccounted for, or James who'd be in the Common Room, on the Pitch or in the Kitchens, or Peter who-well he's a little harder because he gets lost a lot-can be found sleeping in the dorms, or trailing after one of the others. Sirius had no clue where to even start looking for Brenna so he just kept walking around, ending up near the Library.

Apparently Lady Luck was feeling merciful tonight because Brenna walked out of the Library just as Sirius was turning in that direction. Time seemed to slow down as she stepped over the threshold of the library, their eyes meeting in a way that was distinctly reminiscent of those Muggle romance movies. All that was missing was a field of wild flowers, some good background music that no one really knows where it came from and, of course, slow motion running towards each other with open arms…cue music.

As one might expect, music didn't spontaneously start playing in the corridor, flowers didn't spring from the stone floor and neither one ran toward each other. Actually, after a second or two Brenna looked away letting the library door swing closed behind her and continued walking. Time, in fact, sped back up as she began walking toward a secret passage on the side of the corridor completely ignoring Sirius' presence like she had been doing for the past few days.

"Brenna" Sirius called as he rediscovered his ability to move and speak freely. She looked up at him with an expectant raised eyebrow. "Can…can I talk to you? Please?" She stopped walking, allowing Sirius to close the distance between them.

"Sure," Brenna gave him the slightest smile, an encouraging sign for Sirius. Just as he was about to begin gathering his thoughts-yeah, he really wasn't all that prepared for this-a couple of what looked like third year Ravenclaws exited the library both looking at the Gryffindors as they walked, whispering and giggling.

"Um, do you mind if we go somewhere, er…more private?" Sirius asked feeling uncharacteristically nervous.

He tried to calm himself down but as he looked at her his mouth went dry and he felt butterflies in his stomach. _What the hell is wrong with me? I don't get nervous around girls! I just don't. And __**butterflies**__? Bloody hell, you'd think I was a girl by the way I'm acting. Next thing you know I'll be blushing and stammering at the sight of her! _Sirius mentally berated himself as Brenna agreed with a slight inclination of her head which was elegant and graceful as though she were a princess of sorts. Swallowing hard, Sirius nodded and led the way down the corridor until they found an empty classroom.

"Ladies first," Sirius said trying not to look at her hoping that it would calm him down. Unfortunately, Lady Luck seemed to be toying with him this evening for as she walked by smiling, Brenna's hand brushed lightly against his thigh, causing-oh yes, fate is this cruel-him to blush as his mind became void of all thoughts beyond the realisation that he _needed _to touch her. Sirius shut the door behind him and finally looked at Brenna's face, relieved to see that she was still smiling warmly.

"So, what would you like to talk about?" She prompted as Sirius was still staring at her with some unidentifiable mixture of emotion in his eyes.

"Um, I-uh wanted to…" _Great I'm a girl. _Sirius thought sarcastically. _Blushing, stuttering, nervous…Pull it together, man! _"Look about the other day-" He began again before Brenna interrupted.

"Just to clarify, the other day being that last time we spoke in the Transfiguration corridor?" She asked and for a passing moment Sirius was terrified that she actually was mad and simply a passive-aggressive type of person but then he saw her eyes contained a faint touch of amusement and there was a barely noticeable hint of a smile on her face. _And she's playing with me. Wonderful. She's going to drag this out. _

"Er yes, that day."

"Okay, please continue." Brenna replied this time all traces of joviality was replaced by an impervious mask of indifference. _And the nervousness is back. Even better. _

"I just wanted…I wanted to apologize, for…for saying what I did. I shouldn't have and I…I didn't mean it. I don't want you to avoid me anymore."

"In all fairness, I didn't even make a conscious effort. You were the one avoiding me." Brenna pointed out sounding very much like someone blaming their sibling for breaking their mother's favourite antique vase-Merlin knows why it was her favourite, it's not like it was a pretty vase.

"Right, I don't want _us _to avoid each other any more." At Brenna's raised eyebrows and disputing expression Sirius hastily recovered. "_I _don't want to avoid you anymore."

"I think you kind of ended that already. It didn't really require you telling me. It's a decision one makes individually, really."

"Okay, you know what; can you stop interrupting and just let me talk?"

"Is that any way to speak to someone you're begging forgiveness from? I don't think so."

"I'm not _begging _forgiveness."

"Fine, maybe I'll start avoiding you then." Brenna said giving him an amused-challenging look.

"You're really enjoying yourself, aren't you?" Sirius asked frowning at her as he wondered how his apology had become such a comical conversation and why on earth he was so nervous before.

"Very much so." Brenna finally had a proper sized smile on her face and that was satisfying for Sirius, even if it was at his expense.

Rolling his eyes, Sirius continued, "Point is, I'd like to apologize and would very much like for you to accept it. I really want to be your friend," _Or maybe more_, he added silently. "And I don't think you're a freak, because you're not one."

"You were going great until you started lying." Brenna said with one corner of her mouth turned up in a smile, her eyes dancing with amusement.

"Lying? I didn't lie though, at all." _Crap, does omitting the part about 'more' count as lying? No, there's no way she knows. Does she? _Sirius' panicked thoughts raced through his head as he regarded her with wide eyes.

"Yes you did. I'm a complete freak, and damn proud of my freakiness." Seeing the blank look of incomprehension on Sirius' face, Brenna sighed. "Okay, all joking aside, I'm not angry. I don't even really care that much. I mean 'freak'? It's not exactly the epitome of insults; actually, it's almost a compliment. So no, I'm not offended nor was I ever. Next time, if you don't want to be around me or be my friend, for however long, just tell me. There's no need for you to shout it from the castle turrets or proclaim the message to all your little friends. Tell me. Ooh novel concept. And in terms of this 'apology' it was unnecessary. You could've just come up to me and started talking about anything random and it would've been fine."

"I could've?" Sirius asked. He really wished he knew that earlier, it would've saved him from freaking out. "I wouldn't have felt right if I didn't though. I really am sorry; I don't know why I said what I did." Brenna simply nodded in understanding and once again Sirius found himself taken by her beauty. It wasn't like the other girls' who required make-up so that they stood out, Brenna just had a natural simplicity that seemed to radiate from her, a comfortable and relaxed sense of elegant grace. Her eyes captivated him. They looked like marbles, a complicated combination mostly comprised of mossy green and reddish brown ribbons with flecks of grey, blue and gold.

"Uh, Sirius?" Sirius realized he had been staring at Brenna for way too long a time for it to be normal, he had been enthralled and now she was looking at him with a concerned expression on her face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry, just kind of zoned out or something, lost in thoughts." _It's not really a lie, it's not like I could say 'Sorry, Brenna I'm fine, I was just infatuated with staring at you because I just realized you're bloody gorgeous.' Yeah, that would've gone over well. _

"Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" _Yeah, do you want to go to Hogsmeade with me? Or maybe just let me touch your hair...And now I sound like a creepy stalker; from bad to worse…I'm just going to keep that thought to myself… _Sirius thought.

"No, not at the moment," He gave her a grin pushing his thoughts to the back of his mind, it would do no use to think about asking her to Hogsmeade when the trip's tomorrow, she probably already has plans…or a date. It was then that Sirius realized he really didn't know much about Brenna's personal life beyond the fact that she had a twin brother and an uncle. Sirius felt a sudden urge to find out more about her particularly whether or not she had a boyfriend.

"So we should probably get back to the Common Room, it's almost curfew."

"Yeah, probably," The two began walking to Gryffindor Tower side-by-side for the first time in three days. "So what are you doing in Hogsmeade tomorrow?"

"Cyrus and I are meeting up with our friends from back home." Sirius could see the excitement and happiness in her eyes as she thought about the people she would be meeting with. _'Friends'? Does that include a boyfriend? _

"That sounds like fun."

"Dangerous is more like it." Cyrus' voice responded from a little further up the hall where he was walking toward them.

"Meh, as long as we keep them away from Zonko's we should be fine." Grinning broadly, Brenna waved off her twin's comment.

"I think we both know they don't _need_ to buy anything, they choose to out of convenience."

"We also know they're quite lazy at times."

"You're friends like to pull pranks?" Sirius asked looking between the two.

"Yeah, but not like you do, they tend to go a bit over the top and never get caught." Brenna explained.

"Don't pretend that you don't help." Cyrus said receiving a shove from Brenna.

"Shut up, we still need to make sure they stay away from Zonko's, you know they'll want to go in and then we'll never get them out."

"And how do you propose we do that?"

"Lock them in Madam Puddifoots?" Cyrus rolled his eyes at Brenna's suggestion fighting the smile creeping onto his lips.

"Good luck with that. Darren just owled by the way, we're going to meet at 10:30, Three Broomsticks."

"Alright sounds good."

"He also mentioned that they had some stories to tell. Something about Higgins." Cyrus said amusement plaguing his eyes as his twin smirked her eyes dancing in much the same way.

"Well, that should be interesting. Too bad we missed it, though; naturally it would've been news worthy."

"Naturally," Cyrus agreed nodding. "Anyway, I've got to be on my way, curfew and all, but I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow, Cy." With a slight nod to Sirius, Cyrus moved past them down the corridor and the two Gryffindors proceeded on their way to the Tower.

"So this Higgins person, I'm assuming not a friend?" Sirius asked after a couple moments.

"No, he's not a friend. Higgins and his little group are rivals of ours, sort of like the Marauders and the Slytherins but if need be we'd all have each others' backs."

"So you guys don't like each other but you'd still help each other out?"

"Yeah, it's kind of a complex relationship. I've heard it described as 'frenemies' but that doesn't really explain it. Point is, Higgins has a history of making comments that gets him into trouble and the retaliation is always phenomenal. So Cyrus and I are immensely looking forward to hearing the story of Higgins' well-deserved consequence for making such comments."

"How do you know he made a comment what if your friends did something to him first?"

"I know my friends. I trust them with my life." Brenna's tone was casual and yet there was an indisputable truth and conviction to the loaded words that left Sirius with a feeling of inferiority to these 'friends' that Brenna obviously held in such high esteem, especially since her statement wasn't hypothetical. She didn't say that she _would _trust them with her life; she said that she _does_ no ifs, ands, or buts. "So, what're your plans for your 'Marauders Only' trip? That sounds almost as dangerous as having my friends in a hundred-yard radius of a joke shop."

"Oh I don't really know actually, I just said that to get rid of April." Sirius gave her a sheepish smile as she glanced at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Well good luck with that; she seems a little…persistent."

"They usually are." He muttered disdained. "You're only meeting your friends at 10:30, right? So I could always show you around Hogsmeade if you'd like." Sirius offered, _so maybe she has a boyfriend and maybe she doesn't, does it really matter? No, it changes nothing…for now. _

"Won't that blow your cover of a 'Marauder-only' trip for April?" She asked with a sceptical eyebrow. _Why can't anything ever be easy with this girl? _

"Nah, it'll be fine."

"Well, then sure. Might I suggest that we _conveniently _invite James and Lily?" _No! No, just us! I just want to talk to you! _

"Er, I don't know that will probably be end in disaster; James tends to mess things up when Lily's around."

"Don't you think your friends will be mad if you ditch them though?" _I don't care if they're mad, _I'll _be mad if they come! Damn it Brenna, can't you take a hint? It's supposed to be just us!_

"No." Sirius answered shortly.

"Oh, uh, okay then." Brenna answered frowning slightly at the sharpness of his voice. She wasn't aware that she had done anything to warrant his irritation.

"So um, do you want to meet in the Common Room tomorrow or the Great Hall…?" Sirius asked already deeply regretting snapping at her.

"Either one, I'll be up early so it depends on what you want to do."

"Well, as much as I'd like to say I'd meet you in the Common Room, I can't guarantee that I'll be up as early as you are so how about if I'm not up when you go down for Breakfast, I'll meet you in the Great Hall, if I'm up I'll meet you in the Common Room and if I don't show up assume that I stole Remus' chocolate _oHo_

and he murdered me." Brenna laughed softly grinning at his dramatics and Sirius found his chest fluttering, feeling lighter on his feet and thrilled that he had her laughing.

"So if I don't see you by the time Breakfast is done send the Aurors, got it." The two Gryffindors reached Portrait Hole, both excited for what should be a pleasant trip to Hogsmeade the next day. Brenna however had security measures and the map of Hogsmeade she had studied running through her head, checking and double checking possibilities and parameters, making sure she hadn't over looked anything, big or small. In her experience the smallest of oversights could lead to complete disaster just as a single thread could unravel an entire sheet of cloth.

"Oh, shit!" Sirius exclaimed suddenly stopping just short of the Portrait hole.

"What? What's wrong?" Brenna asked her eyes scanning the surrounding corridor for a threat of some sort.

"What time is it? I've got a detention tonight." Sirius said urgently as Brenna pulled a watch out of her pocket.

"Precisely 9:01," Brenna answered relieved that it was only a matter of detention, something she should have expected since she _had _been the one to arrange daily, long detentions for the Marauders. The slip in memory and risk-calculation was definitely not comforting so close to the rendezvous in Hogsmeade, she'd need to check all the preparations again with a fine toothed comb. No stone unturned, no conclusion unchecked.

Sirius visibly relaxed, exhaling calmly and giving a sheepish smile at his overreaction. "Thank Merlin; I don't have to be at detention till 9:15."

"You're really hell-bent on not being late, huh?" Brenna commented the two still lingering outside the Portrait Hole.

"Normally I'm not, but this week the Profs are cracking down. They've been extending and giving extra detentions for every little thing."

"Maybe they're tired of you guys." Brenna said with a shrug.

"They've never done this before. We've been in detention every night this week, and extra long ones too. We've barely had time to sleep let alone do homework and think of anything." _That was the point, _Brenna thought smirking a little evilly on the inside. "It's ridiculous and you know it's weird too, because the things we're going down for we haven't done. We haven't done anything this week actually. It's almost like the teachers have set us up." _Good instincts, _Brenna thought appraisingly,_ only it wasn't the Profs, it was me._

"Rule 25," Brenna whispered softly, not fully aware that she had said it out loud.

"What was that? Rule 25?" Sirius asked curiosity lining his face.

"Uh, yeah..." Brenna stalled, not really answering as her mind warred over whether or not she would tell him the rule.

"Are you going to tell me what that means?"

"No." Brenna turned to walk into the Common Room but Sirius grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward him. The touch sent an electric current running through his arm and the scent of her hair as she turned was almost enough to make him forget about questioning her about the rule.

"Come on Brenna, you've got to tell me. You can't just say 'Rule 25' and not explain." Sirius said still holding her arm.

"Fine, but I won't explain it, that's up to you. Rule 25: If it seems like someone's out to get you, they are." Brenna recited perfectly, it was one of the rules Atomos lived by, with 31 in all, and Rules 25-27 were slated for emergencies. Though not in Sirius' case of course.

"So you're saying that the teachers are out to get me?"

"I said I'd only tell you the rule, it's up to you to decide what it means."

"Okay but where did the rule come from?"

"I do believe I've told you before, only my very best friends know my secrets, you're still not at that level, Sirius." Sirius scowled, wishing she'd just tell him her bloody secrets, it really was driving him crazy, and being told that he wasn't at par with other people wasn't exactly helping.

"When will I be _at that level_?" Sirius asked as she began slowly making her way toward the portrait hole.

"Who knows, maybe next year, maybe never?" Brenna shrugged carelessly. "You really should get to detention; you wouldn't want to be late. And remember, Rule 25." Brenna gave the password to the Fat Lady and the portrait swung open allowing her to step inside.

Sirius remained rooted to the spot thinking over what she had just said. The prospect of never reaching the point where she'd trust him and tell him things hurt. And in the best case scenario he'd have to wait a year which meant that she really had no trust or faith in him at all. Perhaps it was time to start praying to Lady Luck about speeding up this whole process. What he needed to do was prove himself to her. He needed to prove that he was trustworthy and deserving of her friendship, but _how_? For now, he'd just have to stick to hoping for Lady Luck's favour.

**A/N: REVIEW if you want to meet ATOMOS. Please note, the rules mentioned in this chapter and in following chapters are adaptations of Gibbs' rules from the television series NCIS (the original). If you have no idea what I'm talking about I suggest that you find an episode of the show online somewhere, it truly is fantastic. 3 Gibbs 3 Thanks. **


	17. Meet ATOMOS Finally

**A/N: I know, I know, I've been horrible. Please don't hate me. Life's been busy. Voting is still open for Brenna's love intrest please leave a review, PM, or use the poll on my profile. Standings are as follows:  
-Sirius: 9  
-Regulus: 3  
-Remus: 3  
-A member of Atomos (thus far unspecified): 1**

**Chapter 17: Meet ATOMOS (Finally)**

Sirius woke up ridiculously early the morning of the Hogsmeade trip. He was excited and anxious to meet Brenna. He had managed to get some alone time with her, which was no small task since she didn't quite seem to get his gentle hints. In fact, she was pretty oblivious to blokes flirting with her for whatever reason. Sirius recalled a conversation he'd overheard between a few sixth year Ravenclaws talking about the newest Gryffindor and how one of them tried flirting with her in an effort to get a snog from her but she had blindly disregarded him. It had been comical for Sirius to listen to the story of the Ravenclaw being shot down because at the time he had figured that Brenna knew perfectly well what that boy was suggesting and she simply didn't want a part of it but now he wasn't so sure. She'd been pretty oblivious when he had tried subtly suggesting that they spend some time alone together.

But that didn't matter now because he had a few hours to walk around with her, just the two of them. Unfortunately, he was feeling uncharacteristically nervous. He wasn't sure what he would say or do with her or even what he should wear. Sighing Sirius got up and trudged over to the bathroom to take a shower, not really paying attention to where he was going as he thought about where he should take Brenna first as a result he walked straight into Remus who was just exiting the bathroom.

"Sorry, mate." He muttered after recovering from the initial shock.

"Sirius? What the bloody hell are you doing up so early on a Saturday? It's not even half seven yet!" Remus exclaimed – albeit quietly – as he consulted his watch for a time check.

Sirius shrugged, "Couldn't sleep." Remus quirked an eyebrow at his friend's response. Although Sirius woke up fairly early during the week, he was almost never up before 9 on weekends and considering their lengthy detention last night it was a wonder that either of them were standing so early.

"James said you spoke to Brenna last night. How'd that go?" Remus asked, walking over to his trunk and fishing around for a pair of socks.

"Good, I'm going to show her around Hogsmeade today." That got Remus' attention, as he stopped rifling through his trunk to look at him with raised eyebrows. It was almost like Remus didn't approve of this, like he didn't want Sirius and Brenna to go together.

"Like on a date?" Remus queried trying, but failing, to sound like he didn't care.

"Er, no, just as mates, I'm just showing her around before she meets up with some friends. Why?"

"No reason," Remus shrugged turning back to his trunk.

"No really, tell me, Moony, why?" Sirius prompted moving a bit closer to his friend. Remus sighed before turning back to Sirius.

"I just – you'll hurt her Sirius and she doesn't deserve that." _Well, __I __can__'__t __say __I __saw __that __one __coming. _Sirius just stared at Remus with raised eyebrows. "Look mate, I know how you treat girls, and I've never really said anything about it, but not with Brenna. She's different and I don't want to see her hurt. Mate, I love you like a brother, but I won't let you do that to her." Remus' voice rose toward the end of his speech and James stirred in his sleep.

"I'm not going to hurt her!" Sirius declared feeling an anger rise within him at Remus' assumption.

"Come on Sirius, you're not exactly gentle with the girls you 'date'!"

"First of all, I'm _not_dating Brenna so you've got nothing to worry about. And second, how can you think so low of me, I'm you're bloody best mate!" Sirius exploded. How could one of his best friends thinks so little of him? How could he say 'Sirius don't date that girl, I don't want her hurt'? How dare he say that!

"What the bloody hell is going on?" James said grabbing his glasses from the side table. "Bloody hell, its 7:30! What the bloody hell are you guys yelling about?" James looked between his two friends with wide, confused eyes. The overuse of the term 'bloody hell' was typical of James so early in the morning when he couldn't think of any other interjection to use and was extremely annoyed.

"Nothing, I'm going to get ready." Sirius muttered sending a spiteful glare at Remus before stalking off into the bathroom and slamming the door behind him.

Sirius turned on the shower and climbed in, scrubbing furiously at his toned body and roughly lathering his hair. That just shows you how mad he truly was, Sirius was _never_rough with his hair, it was his pride and glory. He kept thinking over what Remus had said and each time the words echoed in his head he rage grew and grew.

Sure, maybe he wasn't the gentlest when it came to girls, but they knew that going in and he never cheated on any of them. He just didn't have long term relationships. But that shouldn't have mattered to Remus. Why the hell did he care? Brenna can't be that good of a friend to him, there's just no way, they've barely known each other, barely spoken to each other...unless…unless Remus got close to her when she wasn't talking to Sirius. Maybe he figured that with Sirius out of the way for being such a prick, Brenna would want him, and now that she's going to Hogsmeade with Sirius – albeit as friends – he doesn't want anything to happen between them.

That sneaky bastard! He just wants Brenna for himself and he's making it seem so righteous by saying that Sirius would hurt her! Well, if Remus thought Sirius would just back down, he's got another thing coming. After all, the girls in this school loved Sirius not Remus and Brenna surely wouldn't be any different. Sirius would have Brenna, not Remus. But wait; did Sirius want Brenna to be his girlfriend? Did he want to be with her, for real? Maybe Remus was right. But Sirius wouldn't hurt her. He would never hurt her, not Brenna, not anymore, not like that. He wouldn't break her heart, not if she chose him.

_But __I __don__'__t __even __know __Brenna. _Sirius thought as he conditioned his ebony hair. _Not __that__'__s __ever __stopped __me, __but __still__…__Why __is __everything __so __different __with __her?__Why __don__'__t __I __know __what __to __do? __This __should __all __be __easy __for __me, __Merlin __knows __girls __love __me __and __I __always __know __exactly __what __to __say __and __do __and __when __to __make __a __move. __So __why __is __every thing __so __confusing __and __foreign __with __Brenna? __Why __is __she __completely __unfazed __by __everything __I __do? __And __an __even __better __question, __why __the __hell __do __I __care?_

_Because __she__'__s __special, __she__'__s __different. __She __doesn__'__t __throw __herself __at __you; __she __treats __you __like __you__'__re __someone __to __talk __to, __just __another __guy, __and __you __like __that._The thought came unsolicited – and in second person, which was odd – but immediately, Sirius recognized it as true. Brenna didn't worship the ground he walked on, she was intelligent, could keep up a conversation and she didn't look at him like he was just a hot piece of arse. She was funny and a bit odd, but Sirius realised that he liked that too. Brenna didn't follow normal social conventions; as far as he knew she didn't have a boyfriend and showed absolutely no interest in getting one. She didn't think about going on a date with Sirius, most girls would have fainted at the implications of "I'll show you around Hogsmeade tomorrow, just the two of us" from Sirius Black, but she didn't. She didn't think anything of it. Sirius realised that he actually liked Brenna, maybe as a friend and maybe as more, but he also realised that he didn't want to rush into anything with her. For now he would be content with spending time with her, even if it's not alone, and getting to know her.

Sirius stepped out of the shower, quickly drying himself off before wrapping the towel around his waist. He was excited for Hogsmeade for the first time in years because he'd get to talk to Brenna, find out more about her and meet her friends, her real friends. Sighing Sirius wrenched open the bathroom door, he'd have to apologize to Remus for snapping at him even Remus started it. Walking into the dorm he found that Remus had already left and James was sitting on his bed staring at him. Peter was still snoring softly – that kid could sleep through anything. Sirius ignored his best mate and walked over to his trunk to get his clothes.

"So…you and Brenna, huh?"

"Don't start," Sirius muttered, so much for apologizing.

"Just talk to me, what's going on? I've never seen Moony get like that over any of the girls you've dated."

"I'm not dating her!" Sirius yelled turning to face him. "Why does everyone assume I'm dating her? Can't I just show her around Hogsmeade? For the love of Merlin! I'm just showing her around!"

"Okay, you're not dating her, got it…so what's going on? You're going to show her around Hogsmeade and then what? Do you want to date her?" James asked careful to keep his voice calm and low with only genuine curiosity in it.

"I don't know, mate, I really don't. I just want to get to know her for now, be her friend, spend time with her, that sort of thing." James nodded in acknowledgement as Sirius turned back to his trunk feeling sufficiently awkward standing in only a towel.

"You know, I never thought I'd see this day."

"What day?" Sirius asked almost hesitantly at the tone of James' voice.

"You'll figure it out. Have fun in Hogsmeade, and try not to fall too fast." James said walking toward the bathroom door with a pleased smile on his face.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about?" Sirius demanded as James shut the door, his only response a chuckle. "Nutter," Sirius muttered under his breath as he finally got around to pulling out clothes for the day.

The trouble between Remus and Sirius had not been forgotten, if they both fancied the same girl things were going to get ugly, but Remus hadn't said anything about fancying Brenna, just that he didn't want her hurt. And that made sense, right? She had said she liked werewolves before Remus had even told her about him so it made sense that he wanted to look out for her. Let's just hope it's nothing more than that.

Sirius dressed casually, in a pair of dark jeans that were the right balance of fitted and baggy with only a couple, carefully accented rips, a navy blue v-neck and a dark grey hooded sweater. Checking himself once more in the mirror to ensure that everything was just right, not too overdressed where she'd think he was expecting something to come of the time together, and not too casual where she'd think he simply didn't care, Sirius took a deep breath and walked to the common room wondering if Brenna would be already in the Hall or still in her dorm…perhaps in her pyjamas. Sirius shook himself mentally, his mind had wondered too far thinking of her in short shorts and a thin tank top.

Arriving in the Common Room Sirius decided to wait for a couple minutes in a chair with a direct view of the stairs leading to the dorms. He had just sat down and began to plan where he would take her in Hogsmeade…Honeydukes for sure, and Zonko's since she apparently enjoys practical jokes, and perhaps the Shrieking Shack, she might like that. Glancing up toward the stairs at chance, Sirius found himself stunned as Brenna walked down the stairs of the dormitory into the Common Room. It struck him how amazing she could look in such a simple and casual outfit.

She wore a round neck, three-quarter sleeved striped light grey and white shirt, skinny jeans with stressing that highlighted her faint curves. A navy v-neck cable knit cardigan hung over one of her arms as she shoved a piece of parchment unceremoniously into her black duffle-style tote bag which had a leather label sewn on the front broadcasting something indiscernible from where Sirius sat.

Brenna smiled when she saw him, her entire countenance becoming lighter, less burdened, somehow. Her smile, it seemed, was infectious, for Sirius found himself giving her an exceedingly rare genuine smile. One that was neither smirk nor grin nor requiring conscious thought. One of these smiles had never been given to a girl before, only to the other Marauders at times instrumental in the founding of their friendship and "family", especially James and Mr and Mrs Potter.

"Good morning, Sirius." Brenna said sounding much livelier than she usually did in the morning, even to her own ears.

"Morning, Brenna, you sound happy this morning."

"Yeah, well it'll be nice to see the guys." _And __I__'__m __finally __doing __something __more __than__ "__learning__" __magic __that __I__'__ve __known __since __I __was __8._Brenna thought as her mind once again ran through the map of Hogsmeade she had studied for the occasion. In reality, Brenna did not need to be "shown around Hogsmeade". Not only had she memorized the town layout, she had walked it with her brother before term started and again just three nights ago as part of the defensive planning for trips such as this.

Sirius nodded in response, part of him wishing he was one of the reasons for her happiness, not that he fancied her or anything that would be ridiculous. "Ready for breakfast?"

"Yes, I'm starving." The two began walking down to the Great Hall for breakfast in amicable silence; Brenna more relaxed now knowing that the boys of Atomos – minus Cyrus – were already in Hogsmeade getting the lay of the land and setting the defences that had been decided upon in the preceding days.

"So, you're meeting your friends at 10:30?" Sirius asked as they neared the final staircase before the Great Hall.

"Yeah, so we've got a few hours, it's nearing 8 now." Sirius nodded, after breakfast they'd probably have an hour and a half together before she met up with her 'friends from back home'.

"Is there anywhere you want to go in particular? I'm sure the girls have told you about some of the shops."

"Yeah, they've told me pretty much everything there is to know about Hogsmeade. I definitely want to go to Honeydukes and then just look around some of the other shops. Oh and the Shrieking Shack, though I'll probably end up there with the boys. I'm not really picky, but if you try to take me anywhere near Madam Puddifoot's I am liable to inflict permanent injury. That place is horrid, and I've only seen pictures." Sirius laughed at her very obvious distaste.

"A girl that doesn't want to go to Madam Puddifoot's, you really are strange."

"I've been trying to tell you."

Once reaching the Gryffindor table, the two fifth years sat in their usual place. The Great Hall was almost empty, few other students willing to wake so early on a weekend. They, of course, didn't have the motivation that Sirius did nor the responsibility of Brenna and so for them, they saw no problem with sleeping in. In fact, while the students paid attention to the happenings of the outside world, few truly understood the danger, and even fewer recognized the danger posed to them within Hogwarts' walls. Of those few it would be safe to generalize that none knew of the great measures and precautions taken to ensure that the Hogsmeade trip was a safe one, one without death or injury for student and staff alike.

It would probably be fairly accurate to say that even the staff did not know of the amplified risk in allowing students a trip to the town, excepting Dumbledore and McGonagall; the staff did not fully comprehend the threat posed to their safety and that of their students. None of them knew that Hogwarts was currently being protected by the prestigious Order of the Dragon and none of them found it troubling that Hogwarts did not have extra protection.

Indeed, the entire population of Hogwarts seemed to live in an imperturbable bubble of safety where nothing truly bad or dangerous or scary could happen. After all, Hogwarts had Dumbledore and Dumbledore could surely keep them safe. Surely not even a powerful dark wizard would dare attack within the walls of Hogwarts. Brenna, Cyrus, McGonagall and Dumbledore made up the fully aware and understanding group of Hogwarts. That was it. Four people who knew of Death Eater attacks and strategy. Two of whom, were willing to lay down their lives to defend that ridiculous notion of imperturbable safety, to keep the students inside from "buying the farm" so young. The irony being that they too were young. They were younger than some of the teens that they would protect, of course, that was only true biologically.

Mentally, Brenna and Cyrus and long surpassed the seventh years and even some of the professors. Their explicit knowledge of the war and events surrounding them aged them, robbed them of their childhood. That is to be expected, though, when children grow up because of war. They evolved into people that understood the horrors of humanity and yet still managed to believe that there is something worth fighting for, that there is hope and good amongst the despair and evil. Brenna and Cyrus and indeed all the Knights of the Order of the Dragon, believed in the morality and justness of people so much that they were willing to give up their lives that others might live in a world without fear and violence. They were willing to die knowing that good will always triumph over evil so long as there are people who have faith in goodness.

It is this thought that prompted Brenna's question, and though it was probably not appropriate for breakfast, it was something that she needed to know. It was a question that was difficult to answer, even for her as a Knight of the Dragon, who truly believed there was good in the world; it was hard for her to answer.

"Sirius, do you think people are good?" For Sirius, who had not been privy to Brenna's long thought process; this question was undoubtedly random…and deep.

"What?"

"Do you think that all people have goodness in them or are some just evil?" Sirius met her eyes, they were contemplative, troubled, this question had been something she was trying to answer for a long time and it would appear that she didn't have an answer.

"I don't know, Brenna…do you think that anyone truly has goodness in them, that humans can be good?" Sirius wasn't really sure how he would answer his own question. Part of him said that yes humans can be good, just look at the Potters, they were loving and caring. But then he thought of his own parents, of all the Death Eaters, the people who abused their kids and just all the crap that people do and suddenly he wasn't so sure.

Brenna, on the other hand, had spent years looking for an answer to the question of humanity, read books from preachers of every world religion she could find, and in pursuit of answering her first question, also answered Sirius', for herself anyway.

"I do. I think humans can be good." She said, and while her answer was certain she spoke softly, understanding that this was a question Sirius would need to answer on his own but it wouldn't hurt to debate the possibilities with a friend.

"Really? Even with this war going on? Even with people killing others because of their blood?" Sirius asked, he wasn't questioning her sanity or calling her stupid, he just wanted to understand her reasoning.

"Yes. You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean, if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. – Mahatma Gandhi. Just because a few people do horrible, evil things does not mean that all of humanity is horrible and evil, right?" Sirius nodded and silence hung between as the meaning sunk in for a few moments.

"That's really deep. You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" Sirius looked into her eyes hoping for some kind of insight. In the short time that he'd known Brenna he figured out that if you wanted a straight answer from her, or at least a hint at why she says the things she does, you look into her eyes. Some mixture of emotion was always swirling in the depths; deciphering which those were was a completely different issue.

Right now, it wasn't hard to see, sadness clouded her eyes as she looked at him, her eyes seeming glassier than usual, perhaps with tears that would never fall. But in a flash, any trace of emotion was erased from her face; she offered him an indifferent, impersonal half-smile.

"I've had a lot to think about." Even her voice was different. Clear, distant, almost cold. The rapid transition hurt Sirius in a way, as he realised just how much about Brenna he didn't understand and how little she truly trusted him.

She could have opened up to him, even just a little, hell, she could've said the exact same thing but with some trace of emotion, something that would tell him a little about her, even if it was just how she was feeling, but instead, she pushed him away. Far away. She severed any form of emotional and mental attachment and connection that had been forming, replacing it with a cold barrier.

Obviously, Brenna's past wasn't rainbows and unicorns, and that was something he could at least understand and respect the fact that she didn't want to talk about it with someone she'd known for a few weeks. Still though, she didn't have to completely block him out. Sirius didn't even do that when he was in first year and was a disappointment to his family who hated him. He didn't ever fully close a connection between him and James, so why the hell did she?

"Brenna, you know if there was ever anything you wanted to talk about, you could talk to me, right?" She studied him for a moment, her entire face void of any trace of emotion or thoughts.

"Sure." The corner of her mouth pulled upward and her face was no longer a mask. Brenna's half smile bordered on a smirk and combined with the tone of her voice told Sirius that she thought he didn't understand anything that she was or had gone through, and beyond that, that she wouldn't really come to talk to him. "So where are we going after this?" Her cheerful demeanour had returned which further confused Sirius. She had just been upset, that much he could extrapolate, and now she was happy again as though nothing had ever happened?

"Uh, I figure we'll just walk along the main street and checks out shops as they come up, are you good with that?" He asked deciding it would be best to just go with the mood swings, maybe it was her time of the month or something, though as soon as he thought that he knew it was wrong.

"That sounds great." The two finished their breakfast talking amicably about much lighter topics; they stayed away from anything that could remotely upset either one.

"Are you ready to get going?" Sirius asked as he saw that both of them had finished their plates of food.

"Yeah, it's almost nine so by the time we get down there we won't have that long." The two exited the Great Hall that was only just beginning to fill up, though none of the other fifth year Gryffindors had entered yet, and as they walked out the doors, Brenna caught her brother's eye nodding to him which he returned with the slightest inclination of his head and raised eyebrows in Sirius' direction.

"Shut up." She muttered at him, knowing exactly what he was thinking and that he would be able to hear her.

"I didn't say anything." Sirius said looking at her confused as they joined the growing queue of students waiting to be checked off the list by Filch. It would seem that only a handful of students had decided to get an early start to the Hogsmeade Weekend, probably a good idea considering it was taking longer to sign students out as they were being searched with dark-detectors, one of the many new precautions taken for the trip.

"Wasn't talking to you." Brenna replied and following her gaze to Cyrus he understood.

"Your brother doesn't approve of the company you keep? He'd probably prefer a proper pureblood." Sirius muttered bitterly, bringing Brenna's attention back to him.

"You assume too many things." Sirius regarded her sceptically with a raised eyebrow. "You judge prematurely, that can be dangerous. You don't know him." Brenna's voice was casual, at ease, not portraying any sense of anger and so Sirius decided that he would push the conversation further, justifying mentally that it could give him information about the very elusive Templars.

"I know enough."

"You know nothing of him, Sirius." Brenna replied, ever calm and shaking her head, her hair bouncing softly where it hung around her shoulders.

"Brenna, I get that you're close with him, but you _must_ have noticed his choice of company, you have to know what their like, and if he's hanging around them then…Don't pretend, don't be naïve." Brenna smiled at his choice of words.

"Sirius, if there's one thing I'm not, its naïve." She whispered to him as they reached the front of the line.

"Names," Filch sneered at them, particularly when he saw Sirius. After supplying their first and last names, Filch checked them off and Sirius moved for the door only to be stopped by Filch blocking his path. "Not so fast, you have to be searched, new rules."

"What new rules?" Sirius demanded looking at Filch sceptically.

"There was a notice on the board in the Common Room; Dumbledore's taking some extra precautions what with everything that's been going on." Brenna supplied, and it was true, there had been a notice posted last night, the fact that he hadn't seen or heard about it wasn't surprising as he and the other Marauders had served yet another detention.

Filch smirked, though on his face it was just plain creepy, as he began prodding them with the various dark-object detectors. It was an uncomfortable but necessary process of checking for contraband items. Brenna, of course, was carrying more than one thing that would be considered against the rules, considering the majority were weapons – a pocket knife, a dagger, a pen that wasn't really a pen at all but contained a highly useful sedative (just in case magic wasn't an option), and a few other things – but she was also very talented at disillusionment charms and hiding stuff in general and so all went unnoticed. This was, admittedly, a bit worrying. If Brenna could get away with bringing so much then surely other students could as well, but dark objects were more the concern and the detectors would sense most of them should they be present, however, there was always room for error, something could always go wrong, hence the multitude of other defences in place.

After that ordeal, they walked down to Hogsmeade with the few other students that had made it out already in light conversation, having dropped the previous topic of Cyrus and his Death Eater_ness_or lack thereof. Reaching the town, Sirius spun around to face Brenna threw his arms out wide, grinning.

"Welcome to Hogsmeade!"

Brenna smiled and rolled her eyes at him, laughing. "You do remember that I've actually been here before, right?" She had told him last night when they were discussing Hogsmeade, after all truths are easier to remember than lies.

"Yeah, but you haven't been in a long time, so it's pretty much like you've never been, things change." He said returning to Brenna's side.

"Some things, but others stay the same." Brenna smiled fondly at a sign hanging from a building down the street. _The__Three__Broomsticks_. The words weren't legible from that distance but Brenna knew without a doubt what the sign said.

"Right well, shall we?" Sirius asked gesturing grandly to the rest of High Street. For the rest of the morning they walked in and out of the different stores, both buying some sweets from Honeydukes and other unimportant items, talking about nothing in particular while they whittled away the time until Brenna met with her friends. Eventually, around 10 when they had ventured into Zonko's, James, Remus and Peter joined them and after making a few purchases began making their way toward the Three Broomsticks.

"I don't believe it!" An indignant male voice said behind them making sure that the five Gryffindors could hear. "We've been replaced!"

"The injustice!" Another boy's voice said. Brenna had immediately recognised the first and second voice but didn't say anything, knowing that her friends would want to have their fun with sarcasm first.

"And we could definitely take them, too! Dare, you get the short, mousy one and the tortured one; Lee, take Alf-Alfa; I got the model. Break!" A third boys' voice instructed. The Marauders exchanged confused looks and Brenna, who had been struggling to control her shaking shoulders, burst out laughing as she turned around to face the boys she knew so well.

"Merlin, I've not replaced you!" Brenna gave the boys a dazzling smile as the Marauders turned in confusion to face them as well. "And honestly, dividing them up amongst yourselves? Really?"

"That's right, we went there." The third replied with a smirk.

"No, _you_ went there, _we_were simply indignant." The first corrected smiling at Brenna who laughed softly, almost like music.

"It's good to see you, guys." Brenna said hugging each of the boys in turn, the third one giving her a kiss on the top of her head and their hug lasted for a little longer than was probably necessary. Stepping back and still beaming, Brenna stood between the two groups of boys.

"Right, introductions. Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew meet Levi Thorne, Darren Morgan and Maverick Hawk and vice-versa." Brenna's friends nodded to the Gryffindors and analytical half smiles and smirks, which the Marauders returned a bit tentatively.

Levi had dark brown, on the edge of black, hair, not long but not too short either, with perceptive hazel eyes and an olive complexion; he was only about an inch shy of 6 feet, the shortest of the three boys and was slight, not scrawny but not very built either, though to his credit, Levi was very capable of intimidation if he wanted to be. Darren was slightly taller and had more visible muscle to him; he was pale but not ghostly and had a spattering of freckles on his cheekbones with dirty blonde shaggy hair and mossy green eyes. Maverick was tallest out of the three, maybe two inches taller than Sirius, with a complexion somewhere between the other two, a built frame, chestnut brown hair and cool blue eyes that scrutinized the Gryffindors in front of them.

Maverick was by far the most intimidating, especially considering he seemed to regard the boys as inferior, they weren't in any way threatened by their presence which in itself was reason enough, after all, if they could do anything similar to Brenna and Cyrus, they were potentially dangerous. It seemed Maverick decided to look past their inadequacy as he offered his hand for Sirius to shake, but just before their hands made contact Brenna grabbed Sirius' wrist, her eyes trained on Maverick.

"No Mavey, you're not pulling that again." She released Sirius' wrist, who was now looking confused, shaking her head at her friend. Maverick grinned and dropping his hand, shook it out a couple times, apparently getting rid of whatever spell he had used.

"Oh come on, Brenna, they can handle it."

"Maverick, half of what you pull you couldn't handle." The first, Levi, said.

"Ignore them; they fight like an old married couple." Darren explained as Brenna and Maverick were still looking at each other challengingly. "It's both amusing and annoying."

"Well, er, nice to meet you." James said a little awkwardly.

"Same here," Levi said amicably, Darren nodding in agreement.

"So what school do you guys go to?" Remus asked trying to make conversation, and find out a little more about Brenna as an added bonus.

"It's really small, hardly anyone knows about it." Maverick answered, his little staring match with Brenna evidently finished, ironically giving the same explanation as Brenna had countless times which disappointed the Gryffindor boys who were hoping for some information.

"You really thought they'd tell you?" Brenna smiled at the boys shaking her head. Darren said something to her in what sounded like French, one of the ten languages she spoke, which they apparently all understood. Brenna replied in such rapid French that the individual words were barely discernible.

"Well, we should probably go find Cyrus; I'll see you guys later and thanks again Sirius." Brenna smiled at them, nodding to Sirius as she vaguely thanked him for showing her around Hogsmeade to which Maverick raised his eyebrows, casting scrutinizing eyes over Sirius. _So__maybe__she__does__have__a__boyfriend__…_Sirius thought showing no signs of intimidation or fear, a tactic well mastered from his years in Grimmauld Place with his 'family'.

As the four past them Sirius could just hear Levi say, "So you and Black, huh?" which was followed by a _humph!_ likely due to a hit in the abdomen leading to someone (likely Darren) snicker and another comment from Maverick, "Leave her alone, Lee. Black's nothing t-…" and then they were out of range and he couldn't hear what else was said. Worry and curiosity tore through him, he didn't know what they had said or were still saying about him but whatever it was, it didn't seem like any of them really liked the idea of Sirius and Brenna together.

In the Three Broomsticks, the members of Atomos sat together at a table in the back corner, well out of view of the door and many people overlooked it as a result. Their connection with Madam Rosmerta, the owner and barmaid, ensured that they wouldn't be interrupted by any of the staff or anything related to the pub. As an additional measure, they didn't speak English, instead using their base languages, ones they all understood, namely French, Italian and Spanish.

"How is home?" Cyrus asked taking a swig of pumpkin juice conveniently in a Butterbeer bottle so as not to raise suspicion from their lack of alcoholic drink. Like I said, they knew Rosmerta pretty well; their parents' friends liked to help them out in any way possible and giving them liquor-free drinks in a Butterbeer bottle was hardly asking a lot.

"Good, it's different without you two and the climate's a bit tense, but that is to be expected with the war's progression and our increased involvement." Darren answered, the joking and fun of the walk to the pub and encounter with the Marauders was replaced with a grave, business-like seriousness. Their voices were low, but they were careful to keep their body language casual and light lest anyone see them and become suspicious.

"I trust you've been keeping up on training?"

"Ah Brenna, always the Team Leader, huh?" Levi asked with a smile.

"Of course, now answer the question."

"Bren, obviously we've been training, what else could we possibly be doing with ourselves for the past weeks? We've got no TL with you here, there's nothing else to do!" Darren, frustrated, took a drink grimacing when he tasted the pumpkin rather than the brew he was expecting.

"I thought you've been helping the Watchers with recon and mapping." Cyrus said drily.

"Yeah and I hear you've been babysitting British brats." Maverick countered.

"Touché," Cyrus conceded.

"And none of us know how long it'll last either." Levi added glumly. Brenna looked down at her bottle of the table. This was her team, her family, and none of them were happy doing what they were doing.

"It is necessary." Brenna said quietly raising her eyes. "The Council agreed that this is necessary. I know it is not us; it is not what we would want to do, but sometimes we have to do the grunt work, the stuff we really don't want to do. We've got to do the mapping and babysitting, because someone has to. Sometimes, everyone has to do things they don't want to. And the – quote – 'best unit in the Order' is no exception. We have to bear this, guys, I know it really sucks but we need to do this. Honour is everything and I could not stand up before you if we did not do what was asked of us. We are protecting innocents, tracking and learning about the enemy, this will give us victory, boys, and I don't know about you but I much prefer victory to death."

"Well, I'll drink to that," Cyrus nodded raising his bottle. The remaining teens raised their bottles as well, the necks meeting in the center of the table.

"Victory over death," Levi repeated, their bottles still held together.

"For Atomos," Darren began.

"For Hogwarts and Britain," Cyrus added.

"For Arcadia and the Order," Maverick continued.

"For honour, freedom and everything we stand for," Brenna smiled.

"Here, here," They all spoke together, clinking their bottles and taking a long sip. Putting their bottles back on the table, they felt their spirits lighter and more motivated to continue with their jobs for victory. Maverick put his arm around Brenna, squeezing her shoulder in approval of her speech and her role as Team Leader.

"Alright, now who spiked my juice?" Maverick asked to which they all began laughing, just like when they were at home.

At that moment, the Marauders had entered the pub. Normally none of them would have given much thought to all the other students sitting, eating and drinking. But today was not "normally", today Sirius' eyes searched the pub for the raven-haired girl so endeared to him, and seeing her in the back corner sitting with her friends, with another bloke's arm around her shoulders as they all laughed together, he realised that that's what he wanted. He wanted to sit at a table with his arm around her, laughing happily with their mutual friends and he wanted it now. He wanted Brenna and he couldn't have her, at the very least not yet. He didn't know a lot about her, but he wanted to, he didn't know if she had a boyfriend, but he wanted to be it, he didn't know her opinion on things that he should, but he would find out. Sirius would talk to James, he at least had experience with this romantic crap, dealing with rejection and seeing the girl he wanted with someone else. James was right, he had been all along. _Damn, __this __really __isn__'__t __going __to __help __his __ego__…_

**A/N: Voting is still open for Brenna's love intrest please leave a review, PM, or use the poll on my profile. Standings are as follows:  
-Sirius: 9  
-Regulus: 3  
-Remus: 3  
-A member of Atomos (thus far unspecified): 1**

**VOTE IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU**


	18. Pictures are worth a Thousand Words

**A/N: Okay, I know, over a month. I know, trust me, a lot of you have reminded me. And it has been mentioned that it's Winter Break, well for me it's not, not till December 23 (I know sucks right? the eve of Christmas Eve) and all my teachers decided to be mean and gang up on us with projects, essays, assignments, tests, you get the point...YAY HIGHSCHOOL -_- Anyway, here's the next chapter,**

Recap on the VOTES for Brenna's love interest:  
SIRIUS: 14  
REMUS: 7  
REGULUS: 5  
ATOMOS (MAVERICK): 2

* * *

**Chapter 18: Pictures are worth a Thousand Words**

"So, Brenna," Marlene began drawing out the monosyllabic _'__so__'_, a sure sign that the ensuing conversation would not be one that Brenna enjoyed. "Who were those guys you with in Hogsmeade?" _Typical, __it__'__s __always __about __boys, __not __the __war __or __even __school __work, __just __boys; _Brenna thought mentally rolling her eyes.

"Friends from home," Brenna answered barely raising her eyes from the Defence textbook she was pretending to read. The girls were sitting in the Common Room on Saturday night well after dinner. The Marauders were yet to return from one of their spontaneous escapades, really just a trip to the Kitchens.

"Right," Alice answered once again dragging out the syllables. When Brenna didn't respond, her eyes moving across the page without actually reading, Marlene huffed.

"Come on, Brenna, work with us, give us some more information than 'friends'!"

Lily grabbed the book from Brenna's lap closing it and setting it on the far end of the table with a thud that resonated in her ears as though to emphasise the fact that she no longer had a choice but to partake in the conversation. A couple months ago – hell, a couple _weeks_ago – Brenna wouldn't have been caught discussing 'boys', at least not in this manner. She would've sat around with the guys of Atomos, the only people she was ever _really_ close to, drinking firewhiskey or vodka or another Muggle drink discussing the events of the day; whether the call was fair in a Quidditch match, or what the Gremlins (Atomos' fond nickname for Higgins and his group) were up to, or whether they were ever as young and weak as the newest students at the Academy. The only time they would discuss boys was to give them a private kudos or bashing for their recent actions. Now, at Hogwarts, in Gryffindor House (house of the "brave", might I add) it was typical to sit around discussing _boys_.

The very fact that Brenna could interpret a _'__So__…' _as the beginning of a conversation about boys and their mysterious ways, was blasphemous to her upbringing. In Arcadia, which is 'back home', a _'__So__…' _meant one of three things: A) someone royally screwed up and you're about to talk about it, B) someone is getting married, having a baby, did very well at something, was injured or killed, or is moving away (there are a lot of options but inflection will generally tell you what's coming next), or C) something, somewhere, is going down and you're good enough to hear about it. To sum it up: A) gossip, B) personal information, C) conspiracy – either something happened or is about to happen. Never did _'__So__…' _mean "let's have a long, giggly conversation about cute boys that may or may not like someone." Okay, I'm sure that for some Arcadian girls it did, but it never really included Brenna until now.

"What do you want to know?" Brenna asked trying to mask the forlornness of her voice.

"Everything," Lily supplied smiling at her. Grumbling to herself Brenna rummaged through the bag she had brought to Hogsmeade which now sat by the couch next to her feet. Pulling out the leather book she so often had with her, she undid the clasp and retrieved a couple pictures, handing one to Lily, who was sitting next to her.

"That one is from last year around Christmas; we'd had a bit of a snowball war." It was a moving picture showing the five teenagers outside, grinning broadly, pink faced and covered in snow. In the background were a scattering of trees and the remains of snow forts and walls, obviously destroyed from the fierce battle. Their arms were around each other's shoulders, Brenna in the center held one handle of a trophy which appeared to be made of ice in the air, Cyrus held the other handle. The teens were laughing and cheering, the arms that weren't holding the group together were in the air, fist-pumping in victory or high-fiving. "Obviously you know Cyrus and I are in the center." Brenna explained knowing the picture perfectly as the other girls crowded together, grinning at the boys on the page. "Maverick's to my right, next to him is Levi and next to Cyrus is Darren."

"Right so Maverick, that's the one that smiles at you lovingly and squeezes your shoulder?" Marlene asked wiggling her eyebrows at Brenna. Brenna simply rolled her eyes at the implication.

"What exactly did you guys do?" Lily asked looking at their very dishevelled appearances.

"It was like a snowball fight times a thousand with another group. We do it every year, its tons of fun…doesn't hurt that we always win too." Brenna said smiling fondly at the annual memories starting from when they were only eight. Each year they battled fiercely, in the forest, by and on the lake, and on the hills against their archrivals, the Gremlins (not that they called themselves that, it was a long standing joke derived from some comment made by Higgins years ago, a comment neither group could actually remember, but the name stuck).

"Is that an ice-trophy?" Alice asked, squinting at the cup which had what looked like engravings on the front.

"Yeah, that was Darren he figured that if we're going to hurl snow and ice at each other we might as well have a trophy to commemorate the victors and Levi figured it ought to be ice, just to keep with the theme and all. We were eight when we decided on that, still compete every year."

"That's really cool, Brenna. We don't really have any traditions like that, unless you count Marauder Mistletoe Mania." Lily rolled her eyes at Marlene's comment, as was typical whenever the Marauders were brought up.

"Which we don't, by the way."

"Marauder Mistletoe Mania?" Brenna asked with raised eyebrows, _Oh, __this __ought __to __be __good._

"Yeah, basically they hang mistletoe around the castle with charms so that once you're caught you can't move until someone kisses you." Alice explained, casting another glance of the picture now in Marlene's hand.

"They started it a couple years ago. At first they hadn't specified the charms, so a kiss from anyone, girl or guy would suffice and it could just be on the cheek. But last year they gender-specified the release charms; a girl has to be kissed by a guy and a guy has to be kissed by a girl." Marlene continued. "Who knows what they'll come up with this year?"

Brenna simply nodded, half-laughing and half-worrying on the inside. If they updated the charms every year, then the next logical escalation would be to specify only kisses that were full on the lips, and that was just not good for Brenna. For other people, guys especially, it would be fine, but not for Brenna. As it was she was too close to these Gryffindors, a kiss from one of them or anyone else would be close to losing all objective perspective. It would create complications in friendship that shouldn't be there, she didn't feel that way about any of them, her loyalty was already spoken for and she wasn't about to change that. Add to that the fact that Brenna just wasn't comfortable with it and you've got yourself an awkward problem. _I __could __always __just __break __the __charm. __It __can__'__t __be __that __difficult__…__though __if __McGonagall __can__'__t __do __it__…__but __then __is __it __that __she _can't _or __doesn__'__t __want __to?...either __way __I __could __do __it, __I__'__ve __had __enough __experience__…__Gibbs __taught __me __well, __he __taught __all __of __us __well, __so __did __Ariston __and __Pa__…__they__'__d __all __be __horrified __if __they __knew __I __was __even _thinking _that __I __couldn__'__t __break __a __charm __that _fifth _years __performed. __Yeah, __I__'__ll __just __break __the __spell, __best __in __the __year __at __home __after __all__…__and __Higgins__' __face__…__good __times_.

"I wish we had something like this though." Lily sighed, her eyes on the picture. "Although, maybe a little less violent a tradition."

"So start one." Brenna said laughing.

"What?"

"You want a nice, fun tradition, so start a nice, fun tradition."

"You can't just start a tradition." Alice said. Traditions were passed down from generation to generation after all.

"Sure you can. Think about it, every tradition anyone ever participated in began because someone, somewhere, at some time decided that it would be a nice, fun thing to do and thought they should keep doing it. Christmas trees, exchanging gifts, celebrating the New Year, all of it was thought up by some person who wanted to do something nice and fun. So start a tradition."

They had many traditions back home in Arcadia. They had festivals, competitions, inaugural celebrations, strange ways to congratulate, mourn and praise people, some were private and personal and others were public, community filled events in which the whole Realm participated. In fact, some of Brenna's most enjoyable memories were of competitions between Atomos and other teams their age and the festivals.

"Just take some time to think about it." Brenna said, and handing them another picture before continuing. "This is from August this year. I think it's the most recent I've got."

This picture was still, a Muggle one obviously, and showed the five teens sitting in the shade of Brenna's favourite type of tree, a Quaking Aspen, distinguished by the leaves which quiver in the slightest breeze; they always reminded Brenna of sparkling sequins. The poses were casual, just a group of friends lounging on the grass out of the summer sun. They all seemed so happy, even though they were about to be separated for a year, they wore genuine smiles. Brenna was leaning against Maverick's shoulder the two of them smiling at each other as though sharing an inside joke that was communicated through their looks and touches. Cyrus and Darren sat cross legged wearing devious smiles and looking like they were almost laughing. Levi had a book open, face down on the ground next to him, his hair looking more tousled and his clothes a little more rumpled than the others, which was probably the cause of Cyrus and Darren's grins.

Brenna smiled fondly at the memory of that day. They had all been sitting calmly under their favourite tree in Brenna and Cyrus' backyard, a little farther there was a forest but this tree was close to the house, the place Atomos would always congregate and hang out when they just wanted to unwind or plan upcoming attacks on the Gremlins. They _were_ sitting calmly, and then Darren and Cyrus got bored, levitated Levi, and strung him up by his ankle from the tree, flailing and very unhappy. Maverick took pity, though he was dying of laughter, and let him down. Then the three boys wrestled for a bit while Maverick went back to sit with Brenna, the two of them watching the scuffle.

Brenna had always been comfortable with Maverick, she was comfortable with all the boys but something was different about Maverick. He had always been there for her, _always_. He knew how to make her laugh when she was about to cry. He knew when to say something comforting and when to just let the silence speak, he knew when she needed to be alone and when she needed him there with her. No matter what, Maverick never made her feel stupid, he was accepting and solid, it didn't matter what happened, Maverick was steady, he could always be counted on to just show up at the very least. For Brenna, Maverick was just about everything she needed.

That is not to devalue the presence and contributions of any of the other boys. They were all important, equal and yet different. Every member of Atomos qualities that was uniquely theirs in the group, their own role to play, and qualities that overlapped. Atomos was strong because of this, a group of friends that were indivisible.

Maverick was the rock, enduring and strong, he was always there. He was a practical and realistic soul and a natural provider. He always tried to make sure the group had everything they needed. He worked hard and strived to reinforce and build both emotional connections and physical objects. He brought a sense of security and was the foundation from which Atomos emerged. Maverick was focused and dedicated, he didn't give up and didn't let any of the others either. Maverick had two very different sides though, one he was supportive and nurturing, and the other he was dark, cold and hard, conquering and dominating. Together with the others he maintained a balance and his intention was always good and meaningful. Maverick kept the group grounded and focused, allowing them to become great and accomplished.

Levi helped them adapt, he knew how to react to everything for all of them. Maverick was specifically good with Brenna, but that was because they had a lot of history, a long story. Levi on the other hand, was good with all of them. He was curious and rational. He loved learning. Levi had a way of getting the group talking about whatever was bothering them; he had the gift of gab, a very important gift considering that communication was the basis of healthy relationships. Levi gave them all a new perspective, a bird's eye view of situations. He was erratic at times but he was the communicator and had an endless supply of knowledge to draw upon, he kept them all thinking deeply and because of him, Atomos went very far.

Darren was the sensitive one, he was intuitive and in touch with the emotional energy around them. That sounds sappy but its true, he could read people's emotions like none other, and he knew exactly what to say. Darren was a natural Healer, anything they needed he could help them, emotional or physical. He had a calming, soothing feeling that went with him when you knew him well, you didn't need to tell him how you feel but he could always bring serenity and peace. At times he was a bit moody, but then so was every teenager. Darren was ever changing, fierce yet soothing, masculine yet sensitive, he was the healing and renewing power of the group, he kept them fresh and at ease, a valuable commodity in a world of turmoil and war.

Cyrus was forever adventurous, wanting to try new things and go to new places. He was the warrior, the one who always fights no matter what and protects what he believes in. He pushes the others to do the same. He is the passion, excitement and laughter but he is also hot-headed, wild and untamed at times. Cyrus loved to tease and push the envelope to see how much he can get away with. He was bold and playful, creative and tempting, fierce and sporadic. Cyrus loved a busy and active life, he was much more likely to choose a 10 km run over reading a book. He has an ego that sometimes over powers his mind, he is spontaneous and rebellious, a warrior and survivor, protector and helper. He can flatter or devour everything in his path, create or destroy. He can be loud and egotistical, competitive, but he is also fun and sweet. Cyrus was passion driven, an idealist, whose competitive side drove them all to be the best Knights and friends they could be, and Merlin did they have fun doing it.

Brenna was the natural Spirit of the group. She was its intention. She kept the boys in line and balanced, keeping them from becoming too dark, egotistical, moody or self-centered. She, like her brother, was an idealist, she was compassionate and empathetic. She understood the workings of people, what drove them to do things, why they behaved the way they did, who they were. She understood the evil and goodness of humanity without losing faith that the world could be a good place. She was the leader of the group, strong and independent, she kept her feelings mostly to herself as she was scarred from the past, leading her to be an introvert and a bit reclusive. Her mind was her greatest strength, though she possessed pieces of all of them. She was rational and intellectual; she could reason out situations and plan near flawless missions. Brenna was the guiding and concentrating force behind the unique personalities, abilities and power of the group, she was their leader though they were all important to the function of Atomos, as a good leader recognized. Brenna organized them, helped them see the reason behind what they were doing and what they were involved in, and that made Atomos what is was, who it is.

Each member of Atomos was an individual person of a greater being. They all complimented each other, balancing each other, strengthening each other's weaknesses, and becoming a family. A family of powerful personalities that had learned to work together, to lean on each other because no one could do everything and no one could take on the world alone. They needed each other like they needed air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, fire to power them, and spirit to drive them. They were the fundamental components of life and their community. Together they were everything, apart they were nothing. Without the support and love that each member offered, the group would probably never have formed in the first place. They were each important and loyal to each other. Until the end they would defend, protect, fight alongside, support, love and forgive each other. They were a true family, a family mismatched and yet perfect, a family that was tied by a bond thicker than blood, stronger than lead and more beautiful than gold. Atomos was indivisible, that was what those pictures showed.

Those two little pictures held so much meaning for Brenna; pictures after all are worth a thousand words. Though for Atomos they were a thousand words that would never be enough to explain how much they meant to each other, a thousand words that would never be enough to explain to an outsider what their relationship was like, a thousand words that would never be enough to explain all the memories, thoughts and feelings that abound in those simple poses, those genuine smiles. Those thousand words could never come close to being enough for Brenna to tell those boys how much she loved them, but she didn't have to, because they knew, they understood, they felt the same.

And as Brenna watched Lily, Alice and Marlene examine the photos she knew that they could never understand the bond that held Atomos together, not with a thousand words, not with a million. This was something you had to live, feel and experience for you to understand and even then, it was a complex balance that was Atomos' and theirs alone. Brenna could try to explain the best she could, but not matter what she would never do justice to the feelings she felt in her heart, how could she? There weren't words to describe this, it just was.

**A/N: Thanks for reading, I promise I'll update faster. Reviews will help with that. Let me know if you want to see anything happen or have suggestions. Thanks again. VOTING IS STILL OPEN. **

**P.S. Gibbs is a tribute to NCIS (awesome show if you've never seen it) and the inspiration for the Rules mentioned a couple chapters ago. **


	19. And Yet to Every Bad

**A/N: Alright I updated and it's a long one. Over 6 000 words, so you best ALL REVIEW. On a less important note, I have changed my pen name to _Comfortably Grey _as I find it suiting and is kind of a long story (not really, it's just hard to explain and pretty boring). Anyway, PLEASE REVIEW I have exams right now so reviews would be fantastic. Voting is still open for Brenna's love interest and as always I'm open to suggestions so leave a REVIEW. **

**Chapter 19: And Yet to Every Bad**

September passed quite uneventfully after Hogsmeade and life was getting busy for the fifth years as teachers began buckling down on them in preparation for OWLs. Classes had become more demanding and Brenna found herself dividing what little free time she had amongst training (Order of the Dragon style), assessing, investigating and defending Hogwarts from the outside world, meeting with McGonagall, Dumbledore and Order personnel via their headquarters in the school for updates, Quidditch practice, homework, and, of course, time with the girls. By late October Brenna was beginning to regret taking this assignment, though she knew her and Cyrus were the only ones properly suited for it, and at the very least joining the Quidditch team, what in the name of Merlin had she been thinking?

At the moment she and Cyrus were sitting in their Headquarters around the scrubbed table, maps and plans laid out before them, cups of coffee kept close at hand as they reviewed the attacks and battles that had taken place involving the Death Eaters, the Order of the Dragon and the Ministry Aurors. A day-planner lay open next to the coffee pot; the previous days each had notes marking the respective pages about the day's events, plans and reprisals both in the greater scheme of the war and Hogwarts in particular. Brenna, having just finished filling in the day's page, _Tuesday October 28_ was proclaimed in bold black writing on the top, gave a barely audible sigh while topping off her cup of black coffee and focussing her gaze on the parchment that now lay in front of her.

"Things are getting worse, Cyrus, we shouldn't be here." Brenna muttered staring at a chart listing the attacks from August 1 to October 25, there had been an increase over the past months, one that wouldn't be obvious to people reading news in the _Prophet_ but plainly visible to anyone who kept track of the amount of time between attacks. There was less time in between and though the severity varied, they didn't keep to a specific geographic region which would increase fear in the average person as the Watchers, the Order of the Dragon's independent intelligence division, reported through their data. The Watchers were definitely the best source of accurate, up-to-date information, in fact the charts and maps Brenna and Cyrus currently studied had been updated only three days previous, October 25.

"I know…we should be out there fighting." Cyrus replied taking a gulp of coffee. Nothing had really changed since they first arrived at Hogwarts. Most Slytherins were still blood-obsessed pricks with psychopathic tendencies but for the most part, hadn't progressed to blood-obsessed psychopaths acting on their twisted ideas of "blood purity".

"How're things in Slytherin?"

"Appalling," Cyrus answered his sister looking at her over the coffee mug that was pressed to his lips, poised for yet another drink. "But no different from September. They rant a bit about the 'Mudbloods' and the 'Blood-Traitors' and 'The Marauders' but other than that? They're glorified deviant children with a few obvious exceptions. Mulciber for one, that bloke is twisted and Rosier too. Black isn't bad though, not nearly as evil as the others, you can tell he doesn't really believe some of what they say, must be the influence of his 'worthless, blood traitor brother'. What about the Gryffindors?"

"They whine, a lot. And complain, Merlin do they complain, and about the most trivial things…I just want to remind them that people are dying and they should be grateful that they can even think about which boys like them without worrying about death. They're so removed from the whole thing, they don't realise what's happening outside these walls is real." Brenna shook her head taking a sip of coffee as they lapsed into silence. The obliviousness of the students was driving her crazy, and she couldn't fully remember a time when she wasn't aware of Voldemort's rising and the trouble he was causing.

As young as eight, Brenna could remember the Order was talking about the noise he could make and the headache he could cause if he gained enough power. Knights would worry and come home to their families after meetings with creased brows at the growing possibility of war; Brenna's own parents were no exception. But the Order waited, they waited for the British Ministry to ask for help, for the people to _need _help, before they got involved as they always respected a nation's right to self-government, only stepping in when necessary to maintain or restore peace and justice. The Order and Arcadia sent delegates, Watchers, and some of their best Knights to the Ministry to warn them of the great danger posed by Lord Voldemort and his growing followers, the Death Eaters, but they were ignored. The Ministry officials and the Minister himself refused to believe that this _lunatic_ could cause any sort of problem for the mighty British Ministry of Magic, the very idea was laughable and many Knights, delegates and Watchers had Ministry higher-ups literally laugh in their faces. The warning was passed on to very few at the Ministry and always in a joking manner when it was; even fewer took any heed in the respected, honourable Realm and knightly Order.

Perhaps the only one that truly believed was Daniel Potter, at the time a middle-aged Auror who had a long history with two of the most respected Knights in the Order, Avira and Arion Templar, friends of his and his wife's from when they were all younger and the Templars had lived in England where they were stationed. They had moved back to their homeland of Arcadia for safety reasons when Avira became pregnant 10 years previous, ironically around the same time Helen, Daniel's wife, became pregnant as well, and though they were physically distant, their friendship was as strong as it was when they lived down the road. Daniel and Helen were there for the birth of the Templar's children, twins it had turned out, a boy and a girl named Cyrus and Brenna, and the Potters were named their godparents, though that was more complicated for Arcadians, and when the Potters had their little boy, James, the Templars were there and became godparents as well.

But two years later, the Templars grew worried over the safety of their children; apparently they were special, even more special than the average Arcadian Knight, as was evident in their astounding control of magic though the twins were only toddlers. As a result, Helen and Daniel had to hide their close relationship with the children from their own son and everyone else. They still saw Brenna and Cyrus growing up through the years, but they never told James where they went, leaving him with a sitter and going on "date night". They cherished seeing their good friends again and their godchildren, but they could tell Avira and Arion were growing worried.

"Something is coming," Arion had begun one night when the children were ten. The two Knights went on to tell the Potters of this new character, Lord Voldemort, the Order's growing concern and the Ministry's lack of response. It was then that the Potters knew that those two children, the Templar twins, and indeed their parents would play some kind of role in this thing that was coming, it was clear from the way Avira watched them through the sitting room window where the two were practicing their martial arts outside, a proud yet worried expression on her face.

"We will be returning to England, to prepare for what is to come. Brenna and Cyrus will be coming with us. You must promise us something. If anything happens to us, and Brenna and Cyrus survive, you must return them to Arcadia, it is the only place they will be safe enough to grow and mature until they are ready. If anything happens, bring them back and Ariston will see to it that they are taken care of. If anything happens you must not reveal them to your son or anyone else until they are ready. You must promise us this." Avira had spoken with such conviction, her eyes glassy with tears that would probably never fall. What more could the Potters do than sincerely agree to their dearest friends' request? And so they agreed, they promised that no matter what, if anything happened to Avira and Arion they would bring Brenna and Cyrus to Arcadia and leave them with Ariston Gold, Grand Master of the Order of the Dragon and a man as trusted as Dumbledore. Then they would return home and hide their grief and worry from their only son, giving him the happy childhood Brenna and Cyrus would no longer have.

When the Potters returned home that night, they were worried. They watched little James sleep for a while, as they had stayed well into the night in Arcadia, and then went to bed, trying to convince themselves that nothing would happen to their friends, though they knew that was a lie. Almost a year later the Potters' worries were realised when Daniel received a letter late in the night on May 13th from a Ministry owl requesting his presence, as well as his wife's (who was a Healer), at an address he recognized.

As soon as he began reading, Helen knew. She knew it was no coincidence that she had just been dreaming about Avira and Arion saying goodbye before they walked through an archway into a beautiful, paradise-like garden and disappeared into misty white light. Avira had told Helen countless times before that while she believed in bad luck, coincidences don't exist. Without consciously realising it, Helen had begun to dress in robes that Avira had given her for her birthday; robes that she had told James were from his father, fully prepared to fulfill her promise to her best friends. Daniel followed suit, dressing in the robes he had worn that day before quickly wiping his wife's tears, telling her to be strong for Brenna and Cyrus, though they did not even know if they were still alive, the letter hadn't said. Then the Potters apparated to the house where the Templars had been living.

The house was dark now, ominous with a few Aurors standing around on the lawn. As soon as they appeared there, one of the younger Aurors approached.

"Daniel, Helen," He had said in a tight voice as a greeting, though the Potters barely registered it as they stared at the green mark hovering in the air above the house, a snake protruding from the mouth of a skull, it was horrific yet they couldn't tear their eyes away. "Thanks for coming; it seems to be the same as the others we've seen in the past few months. Looks like the Killing Curse again, but this time we've got survivors. Two kids, a boy and girl, they're pretty young though, not Hogwarts age yet. They won't move from where they are. Figured they should be looked over by a Healer, Helen, and Daniel you're good with kids so...Last I checked they were in the sitting room, it's a mess in there, parents put up a bit of a fight." With that the auror walked away and Helen and Daniel were left to enter the house to see their friends dead upon the floor and their children staring and shaking at the sight.

Brenna swallowed thickly, she hated thinking of those memories, as anyone would, especially since she would likely relive the experience, her personal experiences rather than the Potters', tonight in her dreams and that was even worse than the Potters' for Brenna had seen everything that happened that night, _everything_ including the death of her parents. Shaking herself mentally Brenna downed the rest of the coffee in her mug and looked over at Cyrus.

"You up for a fight?" She asked noticing that her brother looked just as stressed as she felt.

"Always, you're going down, girl."

The two removed their sweaters, shoes and socks and took positions on the mat in the centre the room. Facing each other a few paces apart, they folded their left hands over their right fists and bowed to each other before they began circling each other practicing the ancient Chinese martial art of Baguazhang which is based on the theory of continuously changing position in response to the current situation in order to overcome ones opponent with skill rather than brute force. Zhang, meaning "palm", designates Baguazhang as a style that emphasizes the use of the open hand over the closed fist. Cyrus made the first move coming closer and attempting to hit Brenna's shoulder which she blocked with her forearm. This effectively began a series of hits, blocks and kicks as the twins continued to circle each other until eventually Cyrus tackled Brenna to the floor, the latter landing hard on her back before performing a perfect kick-up and was standing over her brother. Cyrus was just beginning to get up from the floor so Brenna took the opportunity to hit him a few times in rapid succession before kicking him hard in the side and sending him to the floor groaning.

"Ugh, Bren, I forgot how hard you kick, Merlin's beard, that's gonna leave a bruise." Cyrus spluttered from his position on the floor.

Brenna who stood above him just laughed. "You give up then?"

"Never," Cyrus said as he swung body so his legs swept out Brenna's from underneath her and landed sprawled once again on her back.

"You bastard," Brenna groaned in pain. Suddenly the situation was incredibly funny despite the pain they were both feeling as they found themselves laughing uncontrollably, sprawled on the floor of their training room. Eventually the two calmed down and using each other for support pulled themselves to their feet.

"Thanks Cyrus, I needed that." Brenna said grinning.

"What? A fight, laugh, pain or all of the above?"

"All of the above I guess, but it was still good. I've been stressed lately, you know?"

"You're telling me? I have to pretend to be a fucking lunatic 24/7!"

"Yeah, tough break there, Cy. With any luck it'll be over soon…Merlin, I'm tired." Brenna said yawning.

"You should be you had the Rounds last night. Get to bed, Bren, I'll see you tomorrow." Cyrus smiled warmly at his twin; sympathetic to her plight of tiredness as last night had been her turn to complete the weekly check of all Hogwarts' perimeter defences and that meant running around the borders of the school looking for any holes or deteriorations in the protective charms. It had been a long night for her and it would've been done faster if they'd both done it together but you can't have both of the school's defenders worn out and exhausted at the same time and so the two took turns every week making the Rounds.

"'The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep..."

"'And miles to go before I sleep'." Cyrus said finishing the Robert Frost quote that they both used so often as a way of telling the other that even though they wanted to, it wasn't time to sleep yet. "Sleep first Brenna, your promises can be fulfilled in the morning; you're no use to anyone if you haven't slept in too long."

"Yeah, I know." She sighed making her way to the entrance way which was marked by an intricate series of swirls of thin gold forming an archway on the wall that would open upon request. Pausing a few paces away, Brenna turned back to Cyrus and gave him a small, genuine smile. "You're a really great brother, Cy, and a damned good Knight too…just thought I'd let you know."

"You're pretty great too, Brenna." He said returning her smile. There was something to be said for Hogwarts' ability to make Brenna open up, even just a little, and that was a benefit that far outweighed the cost of pretending to be students at this school. Brenna was telling him things, just the simple admission that she was tired and vocalising her thoughts about him _to _him was something that she had stopped doing long ago; back when their Uncle was their _legal guardian_ though he really didn't really _guard_ anything.

"You still good for Thursday at seven?"

"Yeah, if anything changes I'll let you know, and we've got that meeting with Dumbledore and McGonagall Friday at nine, right?"

"Yup…goodnight, Cyrus."

"Night Brenna," Cyrus watched her leave through the archway before he turned back to the training equipment to take out run some drills with the dummy-opponents.

:.:.:

Sirius was sitting in the Common Room that night, it wasn't curfew just yet but it would be in fifteen minutes or so and there wasn't anything else that he particularly wanted to do, so he sat on the couch watching Remus slaughter Peter in Wizard's Chess with James next to him trying to write a letter to his Mum, who had recently Owled demanding that he respond.

"Any of you lot seen Brenna lately?" Marlene McKinnon asked as the boys looked up at her from their respective places.

"No, not since dinner I think, did you check the library?" Sirius answered for all of them.

"We've checked everywhere! I swear that girl disappears way too often. Well, thanks anyway." Marlene walked away muttering something about an essay that Brenna was supposed to help her with and the boys went back to their previous engagements.

Sirius, however, was less watching the horrible game of chess that his mates were playing and more thinking about the enigma that was Brenna Templar. Marlene was right, she did go "missing" frequently and no one really knew where she went. It was a pretty steady occurrence too, not just once in a blue moon, but more like a couple times a week…and usually after dinner, in the evenings. Sirius tried to think back to the last time when Brenna had been conspicuously missing from her group of Gryffindor girls. It wasn't long ago, last week actually; the other girls were sitting at a table in the Common Room around 7:30ish when Sirius had walked by on his way back from the Library where he had been speaking with Remus and he had heard Evans ask the others where Brenna was. At the time he thought nothing of it, he brushed it off as the girls assumed she was in the Library, but he had just been in the library and she wasn't there. There were a few other occurrences that came to mind as well, all at night, all when she could very well be in the library or walking around, and no one ever knew where she was. Odd.

"Hey Prongs, what'd you say we get back to our little investigation?" Sirius asked causing all three other Marauders to look up from their activities.

"We don't really have anything to go on, remember Padfoot?" James answered, his eyebrows pinched together.

"See that's where I think you might be wrong." Sirius paused here for a bit of dramatic effect, letting the curiosity build in his mates, when James cocked an eyebrow Sirius continued. "Brenna's disappeared; she does every so often you know. Twice a week usually, sometimes more, no one ever knows where she goes." James nodded appreciatively, thinking over the observance in his head and finding that he had to agree; Brenna disappeared frequently and told no one where she was going.

"Oh come off it!" Remus objected, his voice only loud enough for the Marauders to hear. "What're you lot thinking? That she goes off and has secret meetings someplace? That she's a spy of some sort?"

"Maybe not a spy, per se, but I could go for secret meetings." James answered sharing a look with Sirius.

"Definitely plausible, why else would she not tell anyone?" Sirius concurred and Remus shot them both looks that clearly said: _you lot are bloody mental!_

"Or she doesn't think anyone will care if she goes for a walk around the castle!" At Sirius and James' sceptical looks, Remus decided to voice the message conveyed in his look just in case they didn't quite get it. "You lot are bloody mental! Have you never heard that when multiple explanations exist the simplest one is usually correct?"

"_Usually_ being the operative term there, Moony. Besides we just want to know where she is, if she's in the Library, great, if she's having secret meetings, then we want to know what's being said." Sirius explained.

"It's the Marauder way, Moony! No stone left unturned, no question left unanswered! Where is your academic curiosity? Your adventurous spirit? Your determined pursuit of the truth? Goddamn it Moony, where is your integrity?" James declared melodramatically. Remus simply cocked an eyebrow. "And you're interested in Brenna's secrets, too."

"Plus, we can use the map."

Ah, the map. The _Marauder's_ Map, to be precise, showed every nook, room, corner and crevice of Hogwarts Castle and Grounds as well as every person and their position on school property. The Marauder's Map was probably the greatest accomplishment of the four Gryffindor's as of yet. It had involved countless advanced spells, hours of practice and research, and it was a masterpiece, a true, one of a kind, genius creation. It displayed every secret passage and room that the Marauders had found during the years at Hogwarts, and they were pretty confident in saying that included almost all, though the Room of Requirement was unplottable meaning that it can not be mapped in relation to other locations. The map also showed people with their true names despite any magical alterations including but not limited to Animagi, invisibility cloaks, Polyjuice Potion (that was an interesting discovery last year), and disillusionment charms.

"Prongs go get the map would you?"

"You go get it, it was your idea."

"Exactly, it's your turn to contribute something." When James opened his mouth to protest, Sirius continued, "Just go get before she turns up would you." Grumbling James complied.

"What do you think you're going to find Sirius? What are you hoping to find?" Remus whispered, moving to the James' recently vacated spot after declaring _Checkmate_ to Peter.

"The truth." Sirius declared it simply, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, and perhaps it was, in theory.

"Funny thing about the truth, it's usually pretty grey. You might want to be careful, Black," Came a voice from behind them. "Hey Remus, Peter" she added to the other Marauders receiving a similar greeting from each of the boys before Sirius spoke again.

"Brenna, nice of you to grace us with your presence. Where'd you go?" Sirius inquired as Brenna came to sit next to him on the couch.

"Around," She answered evasively, she was already suspicious of what the Marauders were talking about, first about truth and then Sirius asking – almost demanding – where she was with strained nonchalance.

"And, pray tell, where is 'around' exactly?"

"No where you'd know." Brenna replied, and technically it wasn't a lie, Sirius didn't know about the room that had been made for Brenna and Cyrus. James, who was just coming down the stairs, saw Brenna sitting on the couch and stuffed the Map in his pocket rather unceremoniously as he realised they had lost their chance, for now anyway.

"Well if it isn't the mysterious Brenna Templar. Wonderful to see you again, I was beginning to forget your beautiful face." James, in true form, spoke melodramatically, with a grin on his face and a wink in Brenna's direction, as he took a seat in the armchair next to her. Brenna merely rolled her eyes, her back was aching from the fight, and still exhausted, she envied the other girls who were probably getting ready for bed upstairs. "And where were you this fine evening?"

"Real subtle, boys," Brenna said yawning. Remus chuckled appreciatively for he had just been thinking the same thing. "What's got you all so interested in where I go and what I do?"

"We're just concerned, is all. Can't have one of our own in trouble, now can we?" Sirius said with an air of chivalry.

"How chivalrous of you, really I'm touched." She told them sarcastically. "But how do you know I wasn't off snogging some bloke in a broom closet, pray tell?" Brenna raised her eyebrow suggestively and for a beat the boys were silent, they honestly hadn't thought of that because Brenna didn't seem like the type. She just didn't seem like the kind of girl to run off with a random bloke and snog in _broom_ closet no less, she was…classy. Add to that the fact that Sirius fancied her – though he wouldn't quite admit it with those words yet – and it's pretty clear to see why it hadn't crossed his mind.

"And were you?" Remus asked, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. Remus' interest in Brenna's love life – potential love life, rather – inexplicably irritated Sirius though he certainly didn't show it and paid more attention than he would have liked to admit to the answer, hoping all the while that she said 'no'.

"That's not the point, Remus. Whether I was or wasn't, isn't the question right now. The question is why you wonder where I am, likely concocting dramatic explanations, without considering the simplest. Major oversight, Remus, I'm very disappointed."

"Only in me?" Remus asked an amused smile playing on his face.

"You're supposed to be the smart one, aren't you? By logical progression, you're the one that should've known better than to jump to such exciting conclusions when the truth is likely much duller. So, I'm disappointed in you. No offence Peter."

"N-none taken," Peter stammered.

"Are we supposed to be offended then?" James asked.

"You can be offended at your own discretion." Brenna's vague answers tore at Sirius, _was _she snogging some other bloke? Were they completely unrealistic in assuming she was having secret meetings? Why couldn't she just answer a damn question? Why wouldn't she tell him anything?

"Brenna, answer the question. For once, just give us an answer, a real answer." Sirius' voice wasn't light and fun anymore, it was tired and annoyed.

"What was the question, again?" Brenna asked. She didn't want to actually lie to them, truths are always easier to remember than lies, and Brenna liked to think she maintained some semblance of her normal integrity and values and lying was not a part of the normal Brenna – even if that was an oxymoron considering her strangeness.

"Just forget it, Brenna, keep lying or whatever it is you're doing." Sirius stood suddenly angry. Angry that she wouldn't trust him with anything, that she would just tease him with barely-there answers and pretend to think of him as a friend. What the hell is her problem anyway? "Don't you ever get tired of pretending, Brenna? Oh wait; you can't answer that, can you?" Without allowing time for Brenna to respond, he turned on his heel and stalked away to the dormitory.

Brenna watched him go with some kind of resigned sadness. As much as she understood his frustration, as much as she wanted to tell him the _complete _truth, she couldn't fix it, she couldn't tell him. Too many lives were at risk and she couldn't justify telling him just so that he wouldn't be mad at her. It didn't make sense, it was irrational and stupid, and she had other responsibilities to worry about…like sleep and, you know, making sure no one dies. There was no question that those things – on normal circumstances maybe not sleep, but she hadn't slept since she woke up at 6:00am the previous morning…so that's 40 hours, bloody hell – were more important than dealing with teenage drama. Swallowing surprisingly thickly and brushing her hair behind her ear, Brenna figured she should probably say something to the three boys who were watching her, confused by their friend's seemingly random outburst.

"Well, I'm going to head up to sleep. It's been a long day." She gave them a small smile, too tired to properly disguise the effort that it took, and headed for the stairs. As she made to pass Remus, though, he caught her hand and met her gaze with earnest eyes. James raised his eyebrows at Peter, the only remaining and unoccupied Marauder, who looked confused in return. Rolling his eyes, James strained his ears to hear the whispered exchange.

"Brenna, don't let him get to you, he's just moody sometimes, it's nothing personal." Brenna squeezed his hand reassuringly, in thanks for his words which, though she knew them to be shallow pleasantries, offered her comfort as they implied that he wasn't angry with her and he cared at least enough to try to make things better.

"I think we both know that's not true. It's personal, he's angry with _me_. But, thanks for trying Remus, and thanks for caring." She offered a more genuine smile and squeezing his hand a last time she left the Common Room, Remus' eyes trailing after her. James stood up from the armchair looking at his fellow Marauders.

"Well, I'm heading up. You coming?" He asked hoping they would say no.

"Nah, I'm going to stay, Wormtail wanted some help with that Transfiguration assignment, right?"

"Yeah, thanks Moony."

"Alright, night mates." James walked up the stairs to the dorm with no intention of going to sleep just yet. He wanted to talk to Sirius. They hadn't spoken much about Brenna since the Hogsmeade trip, in fact, Sirius had been pretty silent about her and if James had to he would bet that he realised something concerning the raven-haired Gryffindor. Unfortunately, the aforementioned Gryffindor was complicated and not exactly _normal_.

Walking into the dorm, James saw his friend sitting on the window seat glaring out at the sky. Obviously whatever made him blow up at Brenna was still agitating him.

"Hey mate." James began, making his way over to his own bed which was directly beside the window. Sirius merely grunted in response. "Do you want to tell me why you just freaked at Brenna?" Sirius remained silent a scowl set on his face. "C'mon talk to me. What's going on, mate?"

"I don't know. I don't know what the hell is going on! I just don't know. She just – _ugh_." Sirius grabbed at his hair tugging in frustration. James was quiet for a few moments as Sirius breathed heavily trying to calm down.

"Do you fancy her? Brenna, I mean."

"No, I – I don't know, mate. I like her, I do, but she just…drives me crazy sometimes. I mean, why doesn't she just tell us something, _anything_?"

"Is that why you got mad at her just now?"

"Yeah, I guess. I just don't get it. Why won't she trust us? She won't even say where she was tonight. I just…I want to get to know her, y'know?"

James couldn't help his shocked expression at that, his eyes widened, eyebrows disappeared in his hairline, and his jaw dropped open. Sirius Black, his mate _Sirius Black_, just said that he wanted to get to know a girl. Somebody floo the _Prophet_ the world just changed its direction of rotation. While James had suspected that Sirius fancied the girl, he wasn't aware that it was to the extent that he _actually _wanted to get to know her, more than a snog or two and before. This was uncharted territory as far as Sirius was concerned this was huge. His mate had finally found someone worth his time and though she was an oddity, James was sure that was part of her appeal to Sirius. She wasn't a giggly, fawning girl. She was independent and intelligent and that presented its share of challenges, it was a good thing.

"So get to know her."

"Thanks tips, but how? She won't tell me anything, how the hell am I supposed to get to know her?"

"Well, for starters yelling at her and making her upset probably isn't going to help that." Sirius turned to face him with a horrified expression.

"I made her upset? I didn't mean to, she just…and I yelled at her…Is she angry or just upset?" _He really, actually fancies her and a lot too, if he's freaking out like this. He fell for her. Ha, I was right. _James thought as he now carefully considered his answer. He couldn't exactly tell Sirius that when Brenna was leaving, Remus was the one to offer her consolation and that she squeezed his hand _twice_. But he couldn't lie to his friend and eventually he would find out.

"She…wasn't exactly happy. She just said she was going to bed…Remus told her not to take it personally, that you get moody sometimes but…she wasn't convinced. She told him that you're angry with her and she knows that." Here James hesitated knowing that what he was about to say would likely cause a riff between two of the Marauders but Sirius was his best mate, and he had an obligation. "She…er, seemed pretty grateful for Moony saying something." Sirius looked at him quizzically, not sure he quite understood what he was saying. Taking a deep breath, James tried again, "She thanked him for trying to cheer her up and for caring." Sirius' face was blank for a moment, whether in shock or disbelief, before he let out a short, mirthless laugh, his expression becoming sardonic.

"You mean to say, that the one girl _I _fancy is the most complicated and odd girl to walk the planet but not only that, she might fancy one of my mates and said mate might fancy her back? Could this get more messed up?"

Sirius had spent many moments in the weeks that had passed since Hogsmeade, when he realised that he felt _something _for Brenna beyond friendship, contemplating the complexity of the situation. Not long before had he exclaimed, with her overhearing, that someone like him would never want to be with someone like her because "she's a freak" – emphasis on the _freak_ – in what is now referred to as the Incident. It would be a little difficult to explain how someone like him suddenly wanted the freak. Furthermore, his mate (Remus) basically threatened him and told him to stay away from Brenna – or the Freak – and Sirius never really fancied the idea of getting in a major row with one of his mates particularly over a girl. To add yet another layer of complaints, Sirius had never _truly_ fancied a girl before and didn't really know what to do about it considering that Brenna did not react properly to _anything _he did. Whether that be flirting with another girl, or hitting on her albeit subtly, or touching her (innocently) and sitting closer to her than was strictly necessary – none of it worked. Sirius had thought that was a pretty hopeless situation, now considering this new information….

Sirius recalled something that Brenna had said early in the month, when both had been lamenting on the copious amounts of schoolwork and limited hours to complete it and then found out that they had an extra Quidditch practice that night as well. The two had sat in stunned silence for a moment before she had chuckled, quoting, _"'and yet to every bad there is a worse.' Thomas Hardy had that one right…"_ Yeah, Thomas Hardy _still _has that one right.

"I don't know, mate. I'll talk to Moony about Brenna sometime soon, but for now...sleep on it?" James suggested.

"Yeah, definitely and thanks, Prongs, I'll talk to her in the morning, apologize…again."

Chuckling, James stood up and the two Marauders proceeded to get ready for bed. And as Sirius closed the hangings around his bed that night, he recalled that night earlier the month when Brenna and he had been sitting in the Common Room, both tired and verbally abusing their professors as all students do. He remembered her quiet, almost sarcastic, laugh and her words which seemed to flow musically as only truth can. _To every bad there is a worse._ And Sirius remembered to be grateful for everything in his life because things could always get worse and if all he was worrying about was how to get a girl then life was pretty good.

In another dormitory though within the same tower, Brenna Templar was doing the same thing. She was thanking the heavens that she had lived another day in relative peace and happiness, and dreading the encompassing weight of the memories that were sure to fill her sleep that night. And so, casting a silencing charm around her bed, Brenna remembered those words that had spoken such truth to her when she was much younger, the words which reminded her to be thankful despite the horrors of that night, May 13, when she acquired the horrible ability to see threstrals.

Breathing deeply, Brenna laid her head on her cool pillow, closing her eyes and whispering the words with images filling her mind of all the things she was thankful for.

_And yet to every bad there is a worse. _


	20. Memories

**A/N: I know I know I know. I've been a terrible author. But i do have a good excuse. I had a headache for about 5 weeks straight without relief and the doctors had no clue what it was, I was at the ER and everything because of the contstant pain (Shout out to **Say Wha () **for guessing that i wasn't feeling alright, it made my day). Anyway long story short I'm fine it's just the muscles at the front of my neck, who would've thought they could give you headaches? So without further ado, The NEXT CHAPTER: **

**Chapter 20: Memories**

Brenna woke up to the sound of a terrible, blood-curdling scream. The kind that can only be formed from pure, unadulterated terror that even Muggle horror movies can't master. Seconds later, the screaming stopped as Brenna realised that it was coming from herself. She lay on her bed, her hair matted to her forehead and sweaty, taking ragged breaths and biting her fist to hold the sobs in. After a few moments her breathing evened and she wiped the sweat from her forehead and pushed back her hair, tying it in a messy bun at the back of her head to keep it off her neck. Brenna swallowed thickly and sat up in bed trying to forget the cloaked figures and flashes of light that plagued her sleep. Her muscles and back ached from the night before when she had "fought" with Cyrus as she pushed back her covers; the shock of cold air was welcome to her too warm body.

Reaching under her pillow, Brenna stuck her hand in the slit in the mattress that she had made before the school year began and felt the handles of two blades, a pocket knife and a silver handled dagger – her favourite. Extracting the simple pocket knife, she flicked it open in a routine check of the blade before closing it and concealing it in the waistband of her plaid, flannel pants. Now you're probably thinking: what the bloody hell does she need a knife for? And why the hell does she have two hidden in her mattress? And of course there is an answer for this if you recall chapter 16 when The Rules were first mentioned. Rule number 11, you see, is never go anywhere without a knife and this is the short answer to the first question, the long one is, well, long. The answer to the second question goes something like this. Since Brenna is obliged to carry a knife at all times, and wear a uniform without anyone knowing that she has a knife (because really, knives are probably not acceptable at Hogwarts despite the fact that it's not explicitly stated), a simple pocket knife is ideal – easy to conceal and very effective, it's a perfectly good everyday knife. The dagger on the other hand was a gift from Brenna's parents when she first began her training as a Knight; as a result it's her favourite and is kept under her pillow for tradition's sake.

Brenna showered, dressed in her school robes and quietly crept from the dorm without any of her mates waking. Lily's alarm would be going off in 13 minutes and then she'd be darting around the room getting ready but Brenna felt no desire for conversation with any of the Gryffindors. They were too…ideal and "perfect" and sometimes that was just annoying. She wanted to talk with her boys, with the rest of Atomos; they were sufficiently dark, twisty and melancholy while being properly optimistic, fun and light. They were their own brand of comfortable grey. Neither fully angelic white nor evil depressing black that was what Brenna needed, people to understand her pain while giving her reasons to move past it – hope, now that was the proper word – Atomos gave her hope and a shoulder to lean on.

Unfortunately, Atomos wasn't at Hogwarts. Cyrus was but he was just coming off of a patrol that was probably not strictly necessary and would be tired, so she wouldn't burden him with this. She could just sit alone for a bit but really she needed a distraction, a kind of dark, kind of not distraction that she wouldn't have the irrepressible urge to strangle. Definitely not Gryffindor the golden children or Hufflepuff the goody-goodies or even Ravenclaw the know-it-alls and that left Slytherin…but wasn't one of the requirements zero induction of homicidal rage? She could always see if Regulus Black was up, he's not exactly offensive despite the Marauders' opinions. Actually Brenna found him quite agreeable and interesting and so Brenna set off down the corridors in the vague direction of the dungeons. The corridors filled with more light by the minute and Brenna reflected insignificantly on the fact that Halloween in a couple days as she passed some of many decorations adorning the halls.

As she neared the lower floors Brenna became increasingly aware that the odds of Regulus even being awake, let alone outside the Slytherin common room and dorms, were very slim. She really was losing her touch or going soft or something if it took her that long to realise something that should have been obvious. With a sigh Brenna rounded yet another corner, Hogwarts really wasn't as good as made out to be, not for a Knight moving quickly up the ranks anyway. It was as she was lamenting the fact that she was stuck at Hogwarts for an indefinite amount of time and losing her cherished skill of deduction and observation that she crossed the path of none other than her quarry, Regulus Black himself.

"Brenna…good morning," Regulus said a hint of surprise evident in his low tone. Brenna appreciated that he addressed her using her first name as opposed to the impersonal 'Templar' that he used when they first spoke and that he had greeted her without any trace of disdain, in fact it was almost cheerful, or as cheerful as Regulus Black ever was.

"Good morning, Regulus." Brenna gave him a soft smile as the two came to a stop in front of each other in the deserted corridor. "Where are you headed?"

"Library, you?" Regulus generally spoke like this, short concise answers that offered no more information than was requested and while this was seen as rude and cold by some, Brenna was not perturbed by it in the slightest.

"Well I was looking for you actually, do you mind if I join you?" Brenna's directness could be perceived as too forward or pushy, but Brenna knew that Regulus wouldn't offer for her to join him whether because he didn't want to be around her or because she was a Gryffindor and therefore under the 'protection' of the Marauders, Brenna wasn't exactly sure but she knew she would have to make the first move, he could always tell her to fuck off.

"Not at all," Regulus replied and Brenna smiled more at the smooth elegance with which he spoke as she fell into step beside him and the two headed toward the Library.

They looked good together, as anyone would have noted, despite the different coloured ties. Both were good looking on their own, Regulus undeniably so, but together they seemed balanced. Regulus wasn't too much taller that she looked like a midget next to him but there was enough of a height difference that they wouldn't look awkward, say dancing for example. Both had black hair, their complexions weren't shocking in contrast, Brenna had a bit of an olive undertone that suggested a heritage that was not domestic unlike Regulus', and both carried themselves with a strong sense of dignity and confidence. As they walked, their robes occasionally brushed together adding to the comfortable aura surrounding them.

"So you were looking for me?" Regulus asked glancing at her.

"Yeah, I was up early and figured I'd see if you were too."

"So no Lions up to keep you company?" Brenna turned to shove his arm lightly, a ghost of a smile played on his lips as he met her eyes.

"Regulus Black, I resent that accusation. I'll have you know that you're not just some second-rate replacement for Gryffindors." He chuckled a bit, the first time Brenna had heard him laugh actually, and rolled his eyes. "Seriously though, why would you think that?" Regulus seemed to contemplate her question for a moment, that or he wasn't planning on answering at all, either way both parties remained silent.

"You seem close with my brother." Regulus stated, not continuing until he met Brenna's eyes, "Most people don't…get along with the both of us. Gryffindors especially tend to be Sirius' territory, if you know what I mean." Brenna nodded.

"So you figure, I'm a Gryffindor, Sirius is a Gryffindor, I talk to Sirius, so naturally I choose Sirius, yes?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Don't be a martyr, Brenna; you know it's the truth. In fact, I'll still bet that the other Gryffindors weren't up at the very least my brother wasn't."

"They weren't up, no, but even if they were I still would've come to find you. How did you know that you're brother wasn't up?" Brenna asked as they neared the library. Sirius was, after all, an early riser and Brenna was naturally interested in his reasoning.

"Easy, he never would've let you out of the Common Room alone and certainly not to see me. He's interested in you, Brenna, he watches you."

"And she should be thankful for that." The voice of none other than Sirius Black came from behind causing them both to turn on the spot, Regulus' hand flying to the pocket of his robes where no doubt his wand was stored. Brenna couldn't help feeling like a little child caught with her hand in the cookie jar before dinner, which was completely irrational as she was doing _nothing _wrong.

"Told you," Regulus muttered under his breath to Brenna whose mouth turned up at the corners which was probably not a good thing for Sirius' temper. "Hello brother, to what do we owe the pleasure?" This he said louder to the Gryffindor across from them, his voice significantly colder than when he spoke to Brenna.

"Fuck off, Regulus, and stay away from her." Sirius growled – yeah I know growled, right? Stupid testosterone. And suddenly, quite unsurprisingly really, Brenna had a problem with the way the conversation was progressing; mainly that she wasn't involved in it at all.

"_Her_ has a name, it's Brenna. _Her_ is also standing right fucking here, you chauvinistic, pretentious prat." Brenna spat glaring at Sirius. "Regulus, I will see you in class." With an understanding nod from Regulus, Brenna stalked away, pushing past Sirius as she went.

"Nicely done, brother, although, I'm not sure that she completely hates you yet. Don't worry; I'm sure you'll find another way to fuck it up."

"Fuck you, Regulus; you don't know anything about her."

"On the contrary, brother, I know that she doesn't need you _at all_. In fact, she doesn't _want_ you." Regulus' voice was taunting as he smirked before turning and walking the rest of the way to the Library.

Scowling, Sirius realised that he was supposed to be apologizing to Brenna not antagonizing her. Turning on his heel and shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his robes and retrieved the map, looking for Brenna's dot. James was going to kill him when he found out that he completely screwed over the "apology". _I'm really not made for the whole boyfriend thing_. Sirius sighed finding that Brenna had gone back up to the Common Room and began making his way back to the Tower.

"Hey Brenna, have you seen Sirius yet?" James asked as she stepped into the Common Room. He and the other Marauders, minus Sirius of course, were gathered on the couches and armchairs nearest the long extinguished fire.

"Yes," She answered shortly, still angered at the way Sirius acted. As if he controls her, idiot! If he only knew what she could do... James was visibly taken aback by the tone of her voice, he had expected Sirius to apologize and everything to go back to normal, and obviously Sirius had messed up…again. He really did not have a good track record when it came to Brenna, he already had to apologize to her once before and then last night and now this morning.

"Oh…uh, would you like to join us for breakfast?"

"You will have to ask Sirius, or did you not know that he decides who I can and can not speak to or befriend and basically everything I do?" All three boys' eyes widened in shock and, in James' case, horror, this was not supposed to happen at all. The implications of her words distracted them from realising something that would later prove crucial in their understanding of Brenna Templar – the way she spoke. She didn't use contractions and her accent slipped slightly, it wasn't quite British but it wasn't anything identifiable to them either which is probably why it wasn't a consciously noted.

"What? What did he do?" It was Remus who questioned this time, James still mentally berating Sirius' idiocy. Internally, Brenna smiled vindictively. She would let the boys harass Sirius for this on her behalf; she didn't need to deal with the drama.

Shaking her head dismissively, Brenna told them she'd see them later and proceeded up the stairs to the dorm, readjusting the waistband of her skirt and feeling the place where her pocket knife sat discreetly in a small pocket as she went. Brenna had never appreciated being told that she wasn't able to do something. Not so much that she wasn't allowed to but that she was unable, that she physically could not accomplish or perform something. That testy edge to her had only heightened after living with her strict pureblood uncle who controlled everything she did or said, even to the point where he tried to control what she could remember.

The way Sirius had acted that morning had shown Brenna a side of him that she hadn't really seen before, the pureblood-raised side of him. In pureblood society, especially in the old families, it was typical for the head of the family and the other males in the house to have complete control over their female counter-parts. In terms of inheritance, males received the best and most first and the females got things that were left over. In day to day life, a girl's father told her how to dress, act, speak and marry and in the event that the father died the next eldest and closest relative assumed the autonomous role of "protector". Pureblood society ran on the notions that women were inferior to men and therefore should be controlled by their husbands/fathers/brothers/anyone-as-long-as-they're-male, women were little more than chattel. While many purebloods accepted that women could be intelligent they still believed that a woman should know her place, and that place is not as an equal to men.

A proper pureblood woman smiles in all the right places, speaks only when asked at societal gatherings, caters to her husband and does exactly as he says without question. A proper pureblood woman does not have a career besides taking care of the home, children and her husband, and being a hostess and guest periodically. A proper pureblood woman was exactly what Brenna's uncle had tried to make her and apparently proper pureblood women don't have nightmares of their parents' deaths, who would've thought? The point is that Brenna was raised by both her parents to be independent and capable so it's easy to see how she would have a problem with her uncle's mission to reform her horrendous, forward-thinking behaviour and lack of respect for chauvinists, the wretched girl! What a disgrace!

The memories of the eight months spent with her uncle, which resulted in her near death, and the feelings of resentment and hate that accompanied them had flared up at Sirius' behaviour. It had reminded her too much of the way her uncle had tried to prevent her from seeing the then unnamed Atomos and, you know, the fact that he almost killed her. While Brenna had forgiven Sirius quickly for calling her a freak, told him that he didn't even need to apologize, this was no where near the same thing and she would not be so accepting this time. This time she was pretty close to furious, and a furious Brenna is not a good thing. You could ask Ricardo Wilson who ended up in St. Mungo's for three and half months after an encounter with a furious Brenna. He's currently serving a life sentence in Azkaban for crimes that had been dubbed perfect due to the lack of incriminating evidence. Mr. Wilson made one mistake though and that was making Brenna furious with his cocky attitude and blatant disregard for life and justice. He immensely regrets not heeding the repeated warnings against provoking the 13-year-old Brenna and many claim that her passion to solve the case and prosecute the man that was so obviously guilty and yet so untouchable is the only reason that he is today behind bars. As one can easily see, furious Brenna equals big trouble.

Brenna was, for our intent and purpose, furious and Sirius was going to realise just what a mistake he had made. Now perhaps you are thinking that clearly Sirius was only trying to protect her, that he was only looking out for her and actually it's quite sweet, _duh_. But you see, Brenna is very capable of defending herself, her history proves that as does her duelling ability, and she does not appreciate the implication that can not, that she is unable to adequately choose her own conversational companions and she _doesn't_ need Sirius Black to protect her. In fact she doesn't need him to do anything. And perhaps you are thinking that now she's just being an idiot and should swallow her pride and shower him with understanding and forgiveness to which Brenna would respond by calling you all complete and utter morons who can just mind their own business and not offer opinions that are not welcome. I would agree. So in an effort to avoid all that unnecessary back-and-forth I will simply say that Sirius Black needs to understand _his _place in the scheme of things and that it is not controlling Brenna's social life. That is clearly the job of the Order of the Dragon's ruling authority, the Master's Council, which decided that she could waste away dealing with chauvinistic 15-year-olds…joy to the world.

So Brenna entered the dorm, her expression a mixture of anger and exasperation, glaring at nothing in particular as she sat down on her bed. Lily, noticing her friend's expression, paused in her preparation for the day.

"You okay, Bren?" Brenna's eyes snapped quickly to Lily at the abbreviation of her name which Atomos alone was known and allowed to use. Pushing down the objection that rose in her throat over the name, Brenna sighed focussing solely on the events of the morning and the spite that had risen within her. "What's wrong?" Lily questioned again.

"Sirius Black is what's wrong." Brenna muttered, her eyes darkening significantly.

"What did he do? Do we need to kick his arse?" Marlene asked coming out of the bathroom, Alice following.

"Mar, she's got a brother for that. But seriously, what'd he do? Do we need to tell your brother to kick his arse?" Alice asked as the girls came to sit closer to Brenna to hear the story.

"Cyrus doesn't need telling." Brenna said cracking a small smile.

"Oh come on, out with it. What did he do?" Lily pressed yet again. Brenna pursed her lips for a moment before conceding and beginning the tale on the promise that the girls wouldn't interrupt.

"So I was walking to the Library with Regulus Black this morning –"

"Hold up, Regulus Black as in Sirius' slightly younger, slightly less gorgeous _Slytherin _brother?" Marlene interrupted. No one really thought that promise would be kept anyway.

"No the other one – of course it's Sirius' brother, Regulus! There _is _no other Regulus!" Alice answered rolling her eyes, Marlene pouted in response.

"Right, so I was walking to the library with Regulus –"

"Why were you going to library so early and with _him _of all people?"

"Marlene just let her tell the story!" Lily exclaimed. Marlene muttered a sheepish sorry before grinning broadly and gesturing for Brenna to continue.

"So Regulus and I were walking to the library and just talking about Gryffindor/Slytherin house stuff, when he mentions that Sirius is, and I quote: 'interested in me and watches me' –"

"That's not creepy at all."

"Or ominous, you know, 'cause people get 'watched' all the time." The corners of Brenna's lips twitched upward with the knowledge that most people were being monitored, watched if you will, frequently if not constantly by the Order's intelligence division, the aptly named Watchers.

"Yeah, so that's when Sirius shows up behind us."

"Oh stalker much?"

"Right? So he says 'and she should be thankful for that' –"

"He said that you should be _thankful_ that he watches you?" Lily clarified, her eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"Yeah, but he wasn't even addressing me at all, he was speaking to Regulus as though I wasn't there. So Regulus said something like 'to what do we owe the pleasure' because that's how he talks to people he doesn't like or whatever, and Sirius goes and tells his brother to 'Fuck off and stay away from her'." Brenna said her voice indignant but not containing even a quarter of the disdain she felt for the elder Black brother at the moment.

"He told his _brother _to stay away from you? I mean I can kind of understand the whole He's-a-Slytherin thing but he said that right in front of you, without addressing you?" Alice's eyebrows were also raised.

This is where it was nice to have female friends, they were great empathisers and had a sort of pack-mentality, taking offence on _behalf _of each other and providing a united front. If Brenna had been telling Atomos, Sirius would've needed therapy after she mentioned that he watches her, a hospital after she told them about being 'thankful' and a morgue once she dropped his final controlling statement of 'stay away from her'. They empathised as best they could but sometimes girls could be a lot crueller and more conniving than the typical male instinct to hit the problem, literally, and move on.

"He didn't even _look_ at me."

"Who the bloody hell does he think he is? He basically stalked you and was treating you like you belonged to him!" Lily exclaimed having no problem with disliking one of the Marauders even more.

"It's not like he's your boyfriend and even if he was he should've spoken to _both _of you. It's not as if Regulus is the only one who gets to decide. He could use an arse kicking." Alice reasoned earning a slightly disapproving look from Lily which was ignored.

"_We _should kick his arse for being such a chauvinist!" Marlene agreed causing Brenna to laugh at her eagerness.

"I appreciate it Marlene and Alice, but if anyone was going to kick his arse it'd be me and as it is I don't think I will at least not physically."

"Now that is a better idea." Lily agreed as the girls grew identical evil smirks.

:.:.:

Sirius walked into the Portrait Hole not long after Brenna had retreated up the stairs to the girls' dorms with a look of brooding contemplation on his face to see his mates standing in a haphazard circle with looks of confusion on their faces.

"What the hell did you do?" was James' greeting to Sirius who made his way over to them.

"Talking about Brenna?"

"Did you offend anyone _else_ this morning?" Remus responded looking distinctly unhappy with his mate.

"Not that I recall." Sirius replied almost distractedly. He wasn't quite sure what to make of what happened that morning. After all, _she _was the one getting all chummy with _his _brother, a Slytherin Death Eater Wannabe no less.

"So what'd you do? I thought you were going to apologize for being short with her last night and she comes in here this morning telling us that you apparently _control _her or something? Either I'm missing something or you just gave the world's worst apology."

"I don't control her! Where the hell did that come from? I never said that!" What exactly had she told them?

"Well obviously you did something to imply it, Sirius. She wouldn't just make that up and knowing you, I don't doubt that you _did_ make those insinuations." Remus said speaking rather roughly to him.

"Great mates you are, taking her side in this when you don't even bloody know what happened!"

"No one's taking any sides, mate, but when a girl comes in here clearly pissed off at you it seems pretty obvious that you _did _something." Since when was James the diplomatic, calm Marauder? Wasn't he always the impulsive, say-whatever-you-think kind of person? This whole drama between Sirius, Remus and Brenna really had to stop. It was messing with James' identity.

"She's the one who was _flirting _with my brother!" The three other marauders were all quite comically taken aback and Sirius might've laughed had he not been pissed off.

"Your brother?" Peter squeaked abandoning his earlier decision not to get involved in the ordeal that was Brenna Templar's impact on their previously comfortable life.

"She was flirting with Regulus?" James asked his eyebrows knit together in confused disbelief. Remus remained curiously silent.

"Two of them were walking to the library together, good thing I was looking for her if that's who she's going to spend her time with."

"And is that because I'm so bloody incapable of choosing for myself? Or is it because I'm not allowed to do things without the Marauder seal of approval?" Brenna's voice cut like knife, cold, detached and menacing she was very clearly mad. Sirius, however wise it might've been for him to simply explain his intentions, riled at her lack of understanding and spun to face her and the other girls fully prepared for a confrontation.

"He's my _brother_, Brenna. Whatever you think you know about him, you're wrong! You don't know anything; you don't have any idea of what he could do to you! He's a _Slytherin_, Brenna!"

"Thanks, Captain Obvious, what gave that away? The green and silver tie?" Brenna's voice was mocking and sarcastic which only further angered Sirius and she knew that but she needed a fight. She couldn't let this go and that was probably stupid and definitely irrational but she was just so irritated and not necessarily at Sirius, but all the frustration of dealing with these students was too much.

Thankfully, the rest of the Common Room was empty. It was still a bit early for breakfast and most people were just waking up or getting ready for the day, but even so, both groups of Gryffindors, the marauders and the girls, eyed the situation warily. Brenna and Sirius had moved a bit closer to each other and both were clearly not in the mood to settle things peacefully. As it was, this argument might be ending in a trip to the Hospital Wing.

"Stop being so naïve, Brenna! Merlin, you can not be _this _stupid! He's a Slytherin! An evil, wannabe-murderer, future Death Eater, Slytherin and he _will _hurt you!" Sirius' voice, while not much louder than normal, was definitely a yell. He was pissed at her and spoke with force and frustration, almost as though he was restraining himself from hitting her as he tried to make her see his point.

"And even so –" Brenna began before Sirius cut her off. This time his voice was lower, no less charged with emotion, but now he wasn't giving the impression that he was shouting at her.

"He's my brother; I know what he can do to you, Brenna. I've seen what he's capable of and you have no idea –"

"No idea? You think I'm some innocent little girl that doesn't understand anything, don't you?" Sirius tried to protest but Brenna simply spoke over him taking a half-step closer. "No you do, because if you didn't you wouldn't be lecturing me right now on the dangers of the world. Try to understand this, Sirius, I know a lot more than you think, hell I know a lot more than _you_. So don't go lecturing me about what _he's_ capable of because I can assure you, _I'm _capable of a lot worse. What do you think Sirius, that I'm some defenceless damsel in distress that needs you to rescue her?"

"Brenna, I'm just trying –"

"I don't care. I don't care if you were trying to save my life because at the very least you should've spoken to _me_, you should've addressed _me_. If all you wanted was to warn me about the apparent danger that your brother presents, which I assure is quite minimal to myself, then you shouldn't have acted the way you did. I do not need another chauvinistic pureblood running my life, Sirius. You try not to be like your family, to ignore your upbringing, but the way you acted today, completely ignoring my presence and speaking only to your brother, whom you supposedly hate, is _typical_ pureblood. And I don't need that, I don't appreciate it and I sure as hell will not tolerate it. So if you want to play hero, you leave me out of it. In terms of your brother, your concern is noted and does not need to be reiterated. For future encounters, I would thank you to keep in mind that I don't need you to protect me, I don't need you to worry about me and I certainly don't need you to rescue me. I've been doing just fine for that past 15 years without you." She paused giving him a hard, challenging stare daring him to question her. When he didn't, she gave a sarcastic, horrible smile and said, "Have a wonderful day."

With that she turned and stalked out of the portrait hole. Sirius stared, fuming anger swirling in his eyes, at the place she had disappeared. James was the quintessential deer in the headlights, Remus mimicked Sirius though without the intense fury, Peter fidgeted uncomfortably in the ringing silence and the girls exchanged wide-eyed glances.

"Well, er…that could've been worse?" Peter tried.

"In what way?" James asked incredulously.

"Well she could've slapped him across the face." Alice said with a shrug as the girls came out of their shock. Marlene snorted.

"Are you kidding? She totally would've broken his nose!"

"Shut up" Sirius snarled at them.

"Come on, let's go to breakfast." Lily said before Marlene could say any more, and the three girls left through the Portrait Hole leaving the Marauders in an awkward silence.

"Pads…" James started knowing that he'd have to tread carefully with his mate. After all, just last night he had admitted to fancying Brenna, really fancying her, and now she's pissed at him and off with his brother, 'flirting' if James was to believe Sirius.

"I don't want to talk about it." James counted mentally to two before Sirius spoke again, pacing and gesturing wildly in anger. "I mean who does she think she is? She thinks she knows that fucking bastard better than me? I'm his brother, his bloody, Merlin-forsaken _brother_! And she thinks she knows _more _than me? She has no idea what he's going to do to her! No bloody clue and she refuses to see it! I've _seen _what that prick does, what he thinks is fun! He's the same as my parents, the exact bloody same, and she just goes for early morning walks with him to the _library_? Why was she even with him so early! She's an idiot, a complete fucking idiot if she doesn't see the crap he's mixed up in. But her brother's the same, oh her brother and mine? Best fucking mates! No wonder she likes him! She's going to be a good little pureblood and marry someone her brother likes and then she'll join up! And if she doesn't marry him, she'll just fuck him!"

"Enough." Remus cut in. Sirius was angry and when he got angry he said a lot of things he didn't mean, and right now he was saying a lot about Brenna that probably wasn't true and that he'd probably regret once he calmed down. And even if he didn't, Remus didn't like it. Brenna was nice to him; he refused to believe that she was a pureblood extremist. After all, she was mates with Lily, a Muggleborn, when she could just spend her time with the Slytherins if she wanted to.

"What? You want to fuck her, too? Well sorry mate, but you're blood isn't good enough."

"Stop talking, Sirius. You're going to regret this later and you know it!" Remus said glaring at his mate for a moment. "Come on, Pete, let's get some breakfast." With that, Remus turned and made his exodus from the drama of the Common Room, Peter squeaked and, with a helpless look to James and Sirius, followed the young werewolf.

James sighed running a hand through his hair. What had started out as a peaceful, promising morning had exploded into chaos and classes hadn't even began yet.

"Sirius, you know Remus is right. You told me last night that you fancied her and now you're spouting nonsense about how she's a Death Eater who wants to fuck your brother?"

"You didn't see her today, all comfortable and cozy with him." Sirius was still angry, obviously, but he was calming down, he wasn't ranting or yelling anymore but he still clenched his jaw, grinding out the words.

"No, but I saw her just know and mate, it's not good. She's angry, she's really, really angry and I don't think that's going to go away. It's not like last time, she's completely pissed."

"I know that, you don't think I know that? What the fuck is wrong with me that I can't talk to the girl without saying something wrong? Why didn't I just talk to her instead of Regulus? She's right, I'm just typical pureblood." Sirius flopped down miserably on the couch. His anger was dissipating quickly replaced now with a self-loathing that James recognized from countless occasions before, like the time in first year when Sirius had referred to Muggleborns as Mudbloods without knowing the insult carried in the term, or when his mother sent howlers telling him what a disgrace he was.

"From your rant just now, it would stand to reason that she likes that." James pointed out trying to get Sirius away from wallowing in his own horridness and focussed on the problem at hand.

"I didn't mean it. Didn't you hear her, mate? 'I don't need another chauvinistic pureblood running my life. I don't need that, I don't appreciate it and I sure as hell won't tolerate it'…She hates me."

"Actually that brings up an interesting point. She said _another, _mate, which means that someone else tried controlling her before, right?"

"What's your point, James? It doesn't matter if someone else did, she's right, I shouldn't have ignored her. Why did I ignore her?" Sirius asked bewildered looking helplessly pathetic at James.

"Stay focussed, mate. The point is she might not hate you per se but rather the memory that goes along with the other 'chauvinistic pureblood'. Maybe that's the problem, you reminded her of the other guy. It doesn't seem like what you did should be that big of a deal, I mean sure it's a bit offensive but she completely blew up at you. She either completely overreacted or its about something bigger."

With James' words came a memory of when Sirius was first getting to know Brenna. He had told her five things about him and she had done the same and only now did one of those things seem significant. _I hate my uncle with an intense passion that my friends say scare the shit out of them_. That had been the day when he'd fallen on top of her dislocating her ankle and soon after that was the first time he'd ever felt those stupid, fluttery butterflies. He'd forgotten his curiosity and puzzlement over that statement in the excitement of the moments that followed but now it was back and stronger than ever. Could her uncle be the other pureblood? What had he done to her? Sirius found himself wanting to kill him, to make him suffer, for whatever he did to Brenna. And then he realised that he didn't know what the guy did, who he was and Brenna was angry with him.

"James, it doesn't matter, all that matters is how I fix it. What am I supposed to do? Just go up and say sorry? I'm still not happy with her hanging out with Regulus, he could hurt her, and I just"

"Care about her." James finished for him.

"Yeah, I care about her a lot more than I should for the amount of time that I've known her and I just…I've really made a mess of things."

"What're you going to do?"

"For now? Give her some space, let her cool down a bit and figure out what to say and how to say it. After that, I have no idea. It shouldn't be this difficult, fancying a girl I mean." James chuckled and Sirius gave a half smile.

"No," James agreed, "It really shouldn't be this hard." Without saying, Sirius got up and the two headed for the Portrait Hole to go for breakfast.

"Sorry for giving you shit all these years."

"Don't worry about it; I'll get you back for it." The two Marauders stepped through the Portrait hole laughing, unaware of the girl lurking on the stairs who had just heard Sirius admitting to his friend that he fancied a girl. They were completely unaware of the frenzy it would cause when that girl shared what she overheard with her friends and the events it would set in motion.

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviews, please review this chapter hopefully it will inspire me to get working! So let me know what you think? Is Sirius to sappy? Is James too understanding? Who thinks Brenna overreacted? Who caught the somewhate abbreviated explanation of the meaning behind **omfortably Grey**? Let me know. Thanks again. **


	21. Crystal Clear

**A/N: I know, I know, I know, I've been completely and utterly terrible! And I don't really have any good excuse this time too, :(. I've started working now, and school's just finishing, but as was kindly pointed out to me, it's been 3 months (that's a quarter of the year, but not as long as my summer break which is 2 months) Anyway, I've really just lacked inspiration and ideas of how to move the story to where I want it to go. So IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS AND WANT MORE FREQUENT UPDATES...REVIEW. **

**Also, thanks to everyone who did review, this chapter is for you and your determination to keep me on track. **

**Chapter 21: Crystal Clear**

Brenna was still pissed at Sirius. That much was known, undisputable fact. Sirius, typical male that he is, had no idea how to handle and diffuse the situation. And Brenna enjoyed making his life a little bit of hell. She made a point of ignoring his presence, and that alone was hurting him more than he'd care to admit, but beyond that, she spent more and more time with Regulus. She didn't mind, in fact she found Regulus' company quite agreeable and it had the added bonuses of allowing more time with her brother and angering Sirius.

Sirius, in turn, had become more agitated. He was snapping at everyone – even the Marauders – over every little thing. This was no doubt due to his lack of success in apologizing to Brenna, which was mostly because he hadn't even been able to say "Hi" to her since they fought in the Common Room three days ago. Today was Halloween and, in accordance with years past, the Marauders were hosting a party in the Gryffindor common room. Unlike every other year, however, the Marauders' were strained and tired of Sirius' snapping and Brenna's ignoring. They had a party to plan, a party that had to be brilliant, and they had to pull themselves together.

Now everyone knows that when you have a problem the best thing to do is to fix it at the source. In this case, the source was Brenna and the discord between her and Sirius. As the newly dubbed "responsible and sane" member of the group, fixing the problem fell to James. And so it was with no little amount of resignation that James sought out Brenna during his shared free period with the Marauders' Map in hand. According to the map, she was in the library which wasn't exactly James' favourite place to begin with but worse yet she was sitting with her lovely Slytherin brother and none other than Regulus Black himself.

The trick to this whole conversation would be getting Brenna away from the others of her own accord. The last thing James wanted to do was ask Brenna for a word in front of two Slytherins who adamantly disliked him and whom he "disliked" as well. Glancing once more at the map with all the resignation of a man about to fulfill his own death warrant, James was happily surprised to see that Brenna was no longer with the Snakes, in fact, she was just a couple corridors away from him. Stuffing the map in the pocket of his robes James hurried to catch up to Brenna.

_Any second now, 3…2…1…_

"Brenna!"

_Oh so predictable, Potter._ Brenna smirked internally. She had been expecting a visit from either James or Remus, having observed, like most others, Sirius' increasingly annoyed persona. With the added pressure of planning a "phenomenal", "amazing", "insert-positive-adjective-here" party, she had suspected James would try to talk to her today. Pausing but not turning, Brenna allowed James to catch up to her.

"Is there something I can help you with, Potter, or are you merely so accustomed to calling attention to yourself that you can not help disrupting your surroundings?" She asked with a primly arched eyebrow.

James' eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Whether he was trying to figure out what he'd done to warrant such a greeting or if he was struggling to comprehend her words was unknown, but Brenna found amusement in his expression though it didn't show on her face. With an impatient sigh, Brenna made to continue on her journey down the corridor.

"Wait, Brenna I need to talk to you." James' hand was on her arm, not really restraining her but acting as a physical plea for her to stay. Brenna once again raised a brow, looking from where his hand rested to his face with cold disdain.

She was colder now, more demanding and less friendly, especially with the Marauders, since she fought with Sirius. James mentally blamed her behaviour on her increased involvement with the Slytherins coupled with her lack of contact with Sirius. At her look, James immediately removed his hand, normally he might have left it there just to make her uncomfortable but he rather fancied having a right hand and _really _didn't want to lose it.

Rolling her eyes and sighing once again, Brenna set off down the corridor. James watched her, confused, for a moment before he realised that she was just finding them an empty classroom for their talk. At this realisation, James hurried after the raven-haired girl that was causing such hell in his life. As he shut the door to the classroom she was waiting in, he silently reflected just how badly this could be misinterpreted. After all, they were alone in an empty classroom in an almost always deserted corridor. If someone didn't know better, they would probably think the two Gryffindors were meeting for a mid-afternoon rendezvous.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Brenna asked from where she was leaning against the long-unused teacher's desk at the front of the room.

"Sirius," he told her simply and watched as her jaw clenched every so slightly, the only outward sign that this was a sensitive topic. "Brenna, what he did, sure it was disrespectful and he knows that but it really wasn't that bad. Not bad enough for you to completely cut him off."

"If you say so."

"Brenna! Can't you just…_not _be apathetic about this? It's killing him, can't you see that?" Brenna merely shrugged; her face impassive and her eyes uncaring. "You're overreacting. I don't know why, but your response to this whole thing, yelling at him in the Common Room and telling him he's just like the family that hates him and then ignoring his existence, has been – and still is – unnecessary. He knows what he did was wrong, he should've spoken to you and he's sorry, but you won't even look at him!"

"Well Potter, what can I say? Newton's Third Law reigns." At James' puzzled look Brenna rolled her eyes, _Purebloods_. "Every action has an equal but opposite reaction. Just because you don't think his actions warrant my reaction, does not make that true. In fact, the only opinion that matters on what is a proper reaction is mine. This thing, Potter, it has nothing to do with you really. It's between me and Black."

"The hell it is! Like it or not, this is affecting _all _of us, Brenna. He's going crazy! So, either get over yourself and let him apologize or tell us what the bloody big deal is because I've had enough!"

Brenna regarded him silently for a moment, her eyes softening ever so slightly and James silently prayed to whatever deity would listen that she would see his point, forgive Sirius and everything would go back to normal. Then, she moved from her apathetic pose of leaning on the teacher's desk to stand closer to him. James had slouched against the desk in the front row while she had been thinking, and now, Brenna was directly in front of him. Actually, she was the closest she had ever been to him – physically not emotionally – with just a few inches of space between them as she looked up and locked his gaze with hers.

James had to admit she was damn pretty. Her so-dark-it's-almost-blue hair framed her lightly coloured face and swirling eyes. He couldn't really decide what colour they were and, for a moment, found himself lost in their depths trying to decide. Perhaps the most surprising thing about this up-close encounter was that Brenna's eyes completely contradicted her previously bored attitude. She was attentive and analysing and most prominently, she cared. There, in the way her eyebrows were ever so slightly pulled together and her eyes bore into his on a quest for something unknown, James could plainly see concern and the amiable affection shared between people with a combined history.

"You don't have to clean up his messes." She whispered, and again the moment, upon later reflection, seemed too intimate for people who had only known – and barely known at that – each other for a couple months. "You don't have to stand here and ask me to forgive him. You don't have to go along with everything that he does. This isn't your fault, James. It isn't your fault that he messed up or that he doesn't know how fix it. It's not your responsibility." And suddenly, along with that care, there was a sadness and pain in the deep pools of her eyes, and James had the inexplicable urge to lend her some comfort, some support.

It was likely the way she looked at him, as if they had known each other since birth, that made James take a half step closer to her in an attempt to ease some of her hurt. They were basically touching now, and Brenna broke the intense gaze they had held throughout her whispered messages. James tentatively brushed his hand across her shoulder and the touch had its desired effect of making Brenna look up at him.

"You can tell me, Brenna. You can tell me what happened." He whispered, taking on her earlier expression of concern and almost familial affection. Of course, when you're merely a bystander, sometimes you can't distinguish between familial and romantic affection, particularly when it's your best mate standing with only an inch or two apart from the girl you've got a crush on.

It was, of course, this easily misinterpreted scene which met the eyes of one Sirius Black as he opened the classroom door looking for the aforementioned best mate. It took a couple moments for Sirius to comprehend what he was seeing and it seemed like everything was happening in slow motion. Brenna and James' heads snapped toward the sound of the opening door and both jumped away from each other as though they had been caught doing something far less innocent than having a heart-to-heart. For a heartbeat, the three Gryffindors looked dumbly at each other. James and Brenna stared at Sirius, James not being able to articulate an explanation and Brenna trying to think of something other than what would happen if Cyrus and Atomos found out about this. Sirius stared right back in horror. His _best _mate and the only girl he ever really fancied. He swallowed back the lump that had formed in his throat and clenched his jaw against the betrayal, forcing his brain to find words.

"Uh, sorry," he sounded more deject and hurt than he cared, "didn't mean to uh...interrupt."

"Sirius mate, it's not what you think." Brenna snorted and rolled her eyes, a conversation she'd had with Maverick and Darren sparked by the typical comment for awkward and misleading situations. Both boys turned to look at her, obviously not finding any humour in the moment.

"Well, that's like the worst thing you could say. Everyone says that. 'It's not what you think…' It shouldn't ever really stand alone because, nine times out of ten, it totally is. 'It's not what you think, honey, we were just having some freak allergic reaction to our clothing.' Yeah, okay." And I'm sure everyone can see how that comment would really _not _help the situation become clearer. In fact, Sirius felt his heart plummet a little further as James snorted in amusement to Brenna's little scenario.

"Right, well, I'm just –"

"No, mate, it really isn't what you think! We weren't doing anything, I swear. I would never. Brenna!" He looked desperately at Brenna for corroboration. In response, her eyebrows knitted together slightly as though confused as to what he was asking of her before her eyes grew wide in understanding.

"Oh! Oh, no, no, we're not…I mean, we weren't…I...we…um…" Brenna stuttered, not really sure what to say, having never been in that situation before. It was kind of comical actually, to see Brenna, Miss Calm-Cool-and-Collected, panicking and flustered, her cheeks tinged pink, because someone thought she was doing something as mundane as snogging. Sirius nodded, pleased to see her so caught off guard at being accused of snogging James but part of him was undeniable curious as to why she was so freaked out. I mean, it was only snogging wasn't it?

"Erm, right well…" Sirius rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and looked at his feet before glancing up, almost shyly, at Brenna. Nervously, he licked his lips quickly before continuing, "Brenna, do you…do you maybe think…we could, erm…talk for a bit?" He watched her with hopeful eyes, studying her expression and looking so much like an abandoned puppy that Brenna hesitated for a moment too long.

"Well I best get going, places to go, people to see, Halloween tonight and all. You two kids have fun, be safe." James said as he strode quickly to the door, pushed Sirius further into the room and then slammed the door shut behind him. Brenna scowled, realizing that the only way she would be avoiding this conversation would be to physically run from it. This whole situation was making Brenna very uncomfortable. First there was that little…misunderstanding and now she'd have to talk to the guy whom she was avoiding and who was also intimately involved with the misunderstanding. Just bloody fantastic.

"Brenna," he said coming closer to her, "Brenna, I…I'm really, really-"

"Do you even know why you're apologizing?" She cut him off, her cold tone like a knife. Sirius thought for a moment, contemplating whether he should tell her what he actually thought or simply tell her what she wanted to hear.

"Yeah, I should spoke to you; I shouldn't have ignored you, Brenna. I know that, I won't ever do it again, I swear. I really am sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Good for you. I have to go." And just like that, Brenna made for the door. She wasn't going to give him a second chance. She wasn't even going to let him explain and honestly, he didn't really get what the big deal was. So he was a prick, it's not that shocking and he wasn't even offensive really! Now she was just being bloody unreasonable. She'd ignored him all week and now she was just going to _leave_? It is not every day that Sirius Black, _the_ Sirius Black, apologizes for something less than murder! What the bloody hell is wrong with her? Sirius moved to impede Brenna's path, angry, frustrated and a little bit hurt.

"What the _bloody hell_ is wrong with you?" He demanded, his grey eyes reminiscent of a storm, flashing with powerful emotion and swirling dangerously with a dark brooding. Brenna tried to get around him, not really wanting to fight with him again, but each step she took he mirrored.

"Get out of my way!"

"No!" And this time, when she tried to push past him, he grabbed her wrist, probably a little harder than he should have, and yanked her to a stop in front of him. "You're not running away this time! We need to talk!"

"You need to let go of me." Brenna bit out, fighting the urge to break his nose, or his jaw, or every bone and piece of cartilage in his body as tried tugging her wrist free.

"We need to talk, Brenna. I don't get you! I don't know what I did exactly to get you this pissed off with me. I know I shouldn't have ignored you but damn it! This is too much! Why won't you bloody talk to me?"

James was right. Sirius was going crazy. And this, Brenna trying to keep ignoring him, was the last straw. He was gripping her wrist insanely tightly and Brenna was sure it would leave a bruise. Had Brenna not been so accustomed to physical pain and developed such a tolerance, she likely would have cried out by now, begged him to let go. But as it was, she did not. Instead, she clenched her jaw, still reluctant to injure him but slightly unnerved by the crazed, desperate gleam in his eyes. The storm she had seen just moments before in the grey depths had been unleashed and she knew he was dangerous in this state, blindly unaware of his actions, and even so she did not want to strike him. He would feel terrible, she knew; if he discovered he left a bruise on her wrist, for despite Brenna's acclamations of his similarity with his family, Sirius was a good man – at least he tried to be – and he would never want to hurt a girl.

"Sirius, you _need_ to let go of me." She spoke to him calmly and firmly. She needed him to see what he was doing without placing anymore guilt on him yet there was a note of pleading in her voice, a by-product of the pain spreading through her arm from his grasp. He didn't listen.

"Tell me, Brenna! What did I do? Wh–"

"SIRIUS! You're hurting me, let go. Please, you're hurting me!" The more obvious pleading tone in her voice must have broken through whatever anger had blinded him. Sirius looked down to see the death grip in which he held Brenna's wrist. The skin around his hand, clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white, was already turning a nasty shade of purple, evidence of the pain she was feeling. Just like Brenna had predicted, Sirius' eyes grew wide in horror as he instantly released his grasp and watched her cradle her wrist and check it over.

"I –"

Seconds before, Cyrus Templar had opened the door to the classroom, curious about the muffled yelling he had heard from the hall. What he saw when he entered the room made his blood boil. There, not far from the door, stood his sister holding her left arm delicately close to her body, a horrific bruised handprint wrapped around her wrist. Sirius Black stood only a step away from her, the obvious perpetrator.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Cyrus yelled, slamming the door to the classroom and striding purposefully over to the prat fully intending to break all the bones he could. The two Gryffindors jumped in surprise and turned to see the menacing Slytherin approaching them. Anger burned like a white hot flame in his eyes.

Cyrus's fury was stunted slightly by surprise when he felt a hand on his chest and looked down to see his sister, his beautiful twin sister marred by an ugly bruise, impeding his path.

"_Calm down. Cyrus, you need to relax!_" Brenna spoke to him in Russian, knowing that English would not get through to him like the harsher sounds of Russian dialect.

"You fucking bastard! How dare you even _touch_ her! Fuck – Brenna, let me go!" Cyrus was seething and Sirius was still too shocked and horrified by his own behaviour to react to anything. Brenna, however, was not budging and shoved Cyrus hard in the chest forcing him back half a step.

"_Listen to me, you need to calm down! Nothing good will come of this, Cyrus, and you know it!_"

"To hell I do! Let me break his hands, teach him to ever touch you again!" Sirius had finally registered the feral look in Cyrus' eyes, these weren't empty threats, he actually wanted to kill him for laying a hand to Brenna and while Sirius understood that he had hurt his sister, he really didn't want to die.

"I – I didn't mean to…I – I don't know what happened…I would never…I'm so sorry." Sirius managed to stutter, though his acclamations only fuelled Cyrus' temper.

"Yeah and I'm sure Hitler didn't mean to hurt anyone either!" He snarled, still trying to push Brenna out of the way. Damn girl was stronger than she looked and combined with her use of using non-verbal, wandless magic to add force to her blocks and shoves, there was no getting around her.

"_Cyrus! That is too far! I am fine, damn it! Now, stand down!_" When Cyrus still made attempts to get around her, Brenna used the only verbal argument she had left, "_I said STAND DOWN! That is an order, knight!_"

Cyrus, while still obviously fuming, immediately took a step back and few deep breaths. His jaw was clenched and his hands flexed and tightened into a fist repeatedly as he tried to calm down. Bless the discipline of the Order of the Dragon; a knight never defies a direct order from his superiors unless lives are at stake. Brenna, being the team leader of Atomos, had seniority over the rest of the boys, and though she rarely pulled rank with them, they always knew to listen when she gave orders.

"_Thank you. I'm okay, you don't need to worry. This isn't like last time, Cy. I'm alright._" Brenna met his gaze earnestly, knowing that he always held her safety paramount and looked out for her. Cyrus nodded once in acknowledgement, maintaining eye contact as he further calmed himself. "_Do what you need to do, Cyrus. You can be the big brother you want to be. Protect me, I trust you._"

"Brenna, I –" Sirius began again, and just the sound of his voice sent a spark of anger through Cyrus.

"Shut up, Sirius." She told him before turning around to face him. "Now really is not a good time."

"And it never will be. Listen up, Black, because the only reason the bones in your body are still intact is because Brenna, for whatever unknown reason, decided that I shouldn't break them. But if you put one toe over of the line I'm about to draw for you, I promise you that I will cut –"

"No, no cutting, Cyrus, nothing too permanent." Brenna interrupted.

"Fine, I will break every bone in both your hands and wrists. That's 27 bones each and I guarantee that I will find the most painful and lasting way to break each and every one of them and I will take _great _pleasure in it. I'm a Slytherin, Black, though I'm sure I don't need to remind you and you messed with my sister. This isn't a threat, this is a warning – an oath, actually, of what will happen if you decide to disregard what I'm about to say. Clear?" Sirius nodded swallowing visibly; the calm tones with which Cyrus spoke were even more threatening than the earlier fury, if that was even possible. Should the resigned look on Brenna's face be anything to go by, there was no doubt that Cyrus would carry out his _oath_.

"First, you will never touch my sister again, in any way, without her explicit consent. You will not go near her. You will stay a minimum of 2 metres from her at all times. You will not approach her, to beg forgiveness or otherwise, and you will not speak to her indefinitely. You will not send your friends to talk to her; in fact, you'll make sure they stay away from her unless _Brenna_ wishes to speak with them, in which case, _she _will approach them.

"Should you be paired together in any of your classes – this goes for you miscreant friends, as well – you will speak only of the assignment unless otherwise directed by Brenna. You will spend no more time than necessary in her company and will complete any assignments properly and on time. You will not retaliate against Brenna in any way, shape or form for anything. During Quidditch practice, contact will only be that which is absolutely necessary and nothing more – again, unless otherwise directed by Brenna. You know what; just assume that all these rules have the 'unless otherwise directed by Brenna' clause.

"If you ever hurt my sister again, Black, I will kill you. Without remorse. Violence against women is despicable and when it's my own sister…I've no tolerance for it. You've left your handprint on her arm, that'll take a while to heal. So if you ever start to think that these rules are ridiculous, that you don't deserve them, I want you to remember that handprint because I won't forget it. You will always be the bastard that hurt my sister because she didn't want to talk to him. So follow the rules, because I really won't have any sympathy for excuses. And by the way, I'm the one that will judge if you break any of these rules so be _very _careful to follow them. Clear?"

"Crystal."

**A/N: IF YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS AND WANT MORE FREQUENT UPDATES...REVIEW! it is a bit of a shorter chapter because I just wanted to get it posted,** _review for more frequent updates! _

_What do you want to see happen? What do you think? Who do you want to see more of? What do you want to know more about? _

**Let me know and I will gladly oblige. **


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